Month: October 2007

“I could care less.”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Self-negation

I frequently hear this.

Problem:
“I could care less” is the opposite of what is meant.

Explanation:
“I could care less” means that it is possible (“could”) for me to care less. This means that I do care at least a little. When people say, “I could care less,” what they want to say is that they have absolutely no care for whatever the target of their statement is. The only way that this is possible is for them not to be able (“couldn’t”) to care less.

I also believe that omission of “not” (or its contracted form) helps to prove my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. It is simpler to say “could” than to say “couldn’t”.

Solution:
“I couldn’t care less.”

“Bring” vs. “Take”

Common English Blunders, Verbs, Versus

I frequently hear “bring” when the speaker means “take” instead.

Problem:
The verbs “bring” and “take” are not interchangeable.

Explanation:
Use “take” when you (or another speaker) are telling the listener to transport something to a location other than where you (or another speaker) currently reside.

“Take” Examples:
1. Please take this package to my friend in London.
2. Jim, who today is in Houston on business, asked Mary to take the package to his friend in London.

Use “bring” when you (or another speaker) are telling the listener to transport something to a location where you (or another speaker) currently reside.

“Bring” Examples:
1. Please bring the package to me.
2. Jim, who lives in Denver, asked Mary to bring the package to him from his friend in London.

Solution:
Use “bring” when the person making the request is at the destination.
Use “take” when the person making the request is NOT at the destination.

“Irregardless”

Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Self-negation

I saw this in a company document.

Problem:
“Irregardless” is meaningless in that it means the opposite of what is intended.

Explanation:
People use “irregardless” when they mean the adverb “regardless”. The confusion could come from the fact that some words can be negated with the “ir” prefix. “Irreverent” is the opposite of “reverent”; “irregardless” is meaningless, on the other hand.

Solution:
“Regardless”