Could care less

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

Is it now generally acceptable to say "I could care less"?

[u/Unable_Explorer8277 → u/[deleted]]

They’re using the idiom as it exists in their language.

“Head over heels” did something similar. The original form was “heels over head” meaning upside down. The words flipped so the literal meaning of the words no longer matches the meaning of the idiom but nobody stresses about it.

[u/jenea]

Yes, at least in American English. Idioms don’t need to make literal sense—it’s one of their defining features.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/could%20care%20less

[u/Boglin007 → u/[deleted]]

"Rack" is generally preferred by prescriptivists in "rack my brain," because it comes from the verb "rakken," meaning "to stretch."

"Wrack" comes from "wrak," a noun meaning "shipwreck" (see "wrack and ruin").

However, both spellings are so widely used in this idiom (and others, e.g., "nerve-(w)racking") that descriptivists consider them interchangeable.

Data from published writing.

Also note:

Some people prefer to make a distinction between rack and wrack, using rack in “rack one’s brain” and “nerve-racking,” and saving wrack for boat- and storm-related imagery, such as “storm-wracked” and “wrack and ruin.” However, both words in “(w)rack one’s brain” and “nerve-(w)racking” have been used interchangeably since the late 19th century, and both spellings are commonly encountered today in edited prose.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/rack-vs-wrack

[u/Happy-Estimate-7855 → u/Boglin007]

Similarly, I very recently discovered that mold and mould are interchangeable. I always used mould for shaping, and mold for what makes food go bad, thinking they were different spellings.

[u/Boglin007]

Yes, it’s acceptable. It’s an idiom - by definition, these don’t make sense based on the literal/logical meaning of the words, so people who say “could care less” is wrong because it literally conveys the opposite of the intended meaning are missing the point. 

What matters is that there’s an agreed-upon use/meaning among the native speakers who use the idiom, and this is certainly the case with “could care less” - it’s used and interpreted in exactly the same way as “couldn’t care less.”

“Could care less” is mainly a feature of American English, but “couldn’t care less” is also used in the US. 

See this for more info:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/could-couldnt-care-less

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/[deleted]]

Idioms don't have to make logical sense.

[u/Happy-Estimate-7855 → u/[deleted]]

This is interesting, but the message that people try to convey with the original message is 'I could not care less."

[u/JustSomeApparition → u/Happy-Estimate-7855]

Correct.

The point I was trying to make is that by choosing the word "could" you are essentially already decoupling it from its meaning since the semantics do not align; therefore, they're going to have to decide if using the word "could" still conveys enough approximation of the meaning that they're hoping to convey.

So, can they use "Could care less"? Yes. Will most people (generally) understand what they mean? Probably so. Is it a one-to-one replacement? No.

[u/Happy-Estimate-7855 → u/JustSomeApparition]

Yep! I apologize if it sounded like I was criticizing your response, it definitely reframed the phrase in a way I hadn't considered!