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Words or Phrases That Don't Make Any Sense to You

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RoadHazard said:
It's not fine, because it makes no sense whatsoever. "Sure, fat chance!" is ok, because it's always said sarcastically. "I could care less" is not, it's just wrong. Like "irregardless".
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To be fair, in my opinion, the intonation usually sounds sarcastic too me. I edited my post with a reference. Argue with Pinker.
 
I'm also here to defend "could care less". It's a classic sarcastic understatement.

Also, the meaning is total clear in context. No one has ever said "I could care less" and meant "I care a lot".
 
Guevara said:
I'm also here to defend "could care less". It's a classic sarcastic understatement.

Also, the meaning is total clear in context. No one has ever said "I could care less" and meant "I care a lot".
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The problem with the phrase is that a lot of people who use it are simply unaware that it's supposed to be a sarcastic phrase. Next time you hear someone use it ask them to think about it, $10 says they haven't and are just repeating it.
 
Could it be interpreted that

"I could care less"

mean something along the lines of

"you should be happy I even care at all!"

or

"I'm giving you a tiny fraction of my care and you should be happy that it's even that much because, actually, I could care less "
 
Dave Inc. said:
The problem with the phrase is that a lot of people who use it are simply unaware that it's supposed to be a sarcastic phrase. Next time you hear someone use it ask them to think about it, $10 says they haven't and are just repeating it.
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I couldn't care less and I could care less are said with different intonations, at least here in the northwest where I am from. There is definitely a sarcastic component to it.

edit:
If you say to someone: "man windows ME crashed again, it is such a piece of shit" and they respond "Tell me about it", do you stop and go: "Did you mean to use that in a sarcastic sense, because 'tell me about it' is asking me to talk about it more, implying that you don't know about it."

Of course not, because their response would be, "Don't be an asshole, you know what I meant."
 
marrec said:
I told myself I'd never use cromulent on GAF, but now that you've done it I can.

You broke the seal.
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Don't you feel embiggened now?
 
marrec said:
I love using 'To be fair' and then saying something completely unfair like:

"To be fair, I thought you'd be dead by now."

or

"To be fair, you're much poorer than me so I don't care about you."
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'fair' can mean : free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice

So you can also use 'to be fair' as 'to be honest'
 
"All but forgotten"

All = Everything

But = Except


So if something is "everything except forgotten" that means it's not forgotten. It might be stupid. It might be ugly. It might be purple or pink. But there's one thing it isn't and that's forgotten.

And yet, the phrase "all but forgotten" means something IS forgotten.

I fucking _HATE_ that so much. I hate it. It's a bug in the English language.
 
FStop7 said:
"All but forgotten"

All = Everything

But = Except


So if something is "everything except forgotten" that means it's not forgotten. It might be stupid. It might be ugly. It might be purple or pink. But there's one thing it isn't and that's forgotten.

And yet, the phrase "all but forgotten" means something IS forgotten.

I fucking _HATE_ that so much. I hate it. It's a bug in the English language.
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I think it means 99.9% forgotten but slightly remembered.
 
I can't think of anything right now except for the word "whatever" used to show disinterest or skepticism.

I know what "what" means and I know what "ever" means, but I can't understand how the combination of the two can basically mean "I don't care."

Lame I know, but I can't think of anything else. There are other compounds I've questioned, but I can't remember.
 
"St. Anger was actually pretty decent."

I have no idea what the above statement means. I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I read it.
 
Kusagari said:
It clearly isn't. It doesn't even make sense sarcastically in the way it's commonly used.
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http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/1994_01_24_thenewrepublic.html

Steven Pinker said:
A tin ear for stress and melody, and an obliviousness to the principles of discourse and rhetoric, are important tools of the trade for the language maven. Consider an alleged atrocity committed by today's youth: the expression [I could care less]. The teenagers are trying to express disdain, the adults note, in which case they should be saying [I couldn't care less]. If they could care less than they do, that means that they really do care, the opposite of what they are trying to say. But if these dudes would stop ragging on teenagers and scope out the construction, they would see that their argument is bogus. Listen to how the two versions are pronounced: COULDN'T care I LE CARE i ESS. LE could ESS. The melodies and stresses are completely different, and for a good reason. The second version is not illogical, it's [sarcastic]. The point of sarcasm is that by making an assertion that is manifestly false or accompanied by ostentatiously mannered intonation, one deliberately implies its opposite. A good paraphrase is, "Oh yeah, as if there were something in the world that I care less about."
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Kusagari said:
It clearly isn't. It doesn't even make sense sarcastically in the way it's commonly used.
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Somebody doesn't care, so they say claim that they do care sarcastically. What doesn't make sense there?

It's a lame way of expressing ones-self, I'll agree there. It makes sense though.
 
''Little did he know''. As if the person got brain/memory issues. Instead of just not being aware of something.
 
Acerac said:
Somebody doesn't care, so they say claim that they do care sarcastically. What doesn't make sense there?

It's a lame way of expressing ones-self, I'll agree there. It makes sense though.
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I mean, yeah, technically it's sarcastic. But 99% of the time you hear people say it, it's pretty clear they don't mean it sarcastically.

I know people who use the 'phrase', and I know when they're being sarcastic. And trust me they aren't when they say could care less.
 
Cakewalk and fat chance. Walking with a cake isn't that easy, you know. And why is fat chance the same as slim chance, when fat is the opposite of slim? Kinda silly, if you ask me.


Yes, I stole these from Cougar Town
 
"The fact of the matter."

I blame Howard Stern for falling in love with this term when he moved to Sirius. For a couple of years there, every comment he would make started off with that phrase. Then I started to pick it when everyone else on TV and radio would say it. It's a preposterous way of starting a rebuttal in conversation. Are you going to summarize what has been discussed or are you trying to set everyone straight with your correct opinion on the situation.

"No offense, but.."

There's no need to preface a comment like this. Saying that doesn't lessen the impact of what you intend to say. Don't tack on a disclaimer.

"I'm sorry to all the people I offended."

Let's be real. Whatever you said was either blown out of proportion or you're simply apologizing because your hand was forced. I'd rather the person/company not apologize, than to offer one up something that is for feigned appeasement.
 
Famassu said:
Cakewalk and fat chance. Walking with a cake isn't that easy, you know. And why is fat chance the same as slim chance, when fat is the opposite of slim? Kinda silly, if you ask me.


Yes, I stole these from Cougar Town
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I was in a cake-walk once. It was very easy, but I didn't win a cake.
 
Kusagari said:
I mean, yeah, technically it's sarcastic. But 99% of the time you hear people say it, it's pretty clear they don't mean it sarcastically.

I know people who use the 'phrase', and I know when they're being sarcastic. And trust me they aren't when they say could care less.
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Does it still count as sarcastic phrasing if the sentence only makes sense when delivered sarcastically even if the speaker didn't know that themself? Deep questions.
 
'Couldn't care less' is already dripping in sarcasm - you wouldn't say it in a formal context or to someone who you weren't trying to give the cold shoulder. Whatever logical hoops people are jumping through to justify 'I could care less', it's wrong.

The fact that many people make the same mistake in a slightly different context by saying "I could give a damn", "I could give a shit" or whatever suggests that it's not being done sarcastically.
 
Hilbert said:
I couldn't care less and I could care less are said with different intonations, at least here in the northwest where I am from. There is definitely a sarcastic component to it.
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As someone from the northwest I think you're hearing something that isn't there. They're said exactly the same. Some people understand what the phrase means and some people don't. The latter group uses "could."
 
"Bite me"

I thought it was only a TV thing until people actually started saying that. Why would allowing me to injure you be an insult? It makes no sense and the less I hear it, the better.
 
"I go hard"
"YOLO"
"Shut yo bitch ass"
"Bitch ass"
etc.

Also, what does rttp mean? I know that lttp means late to the party, but I can't figure out the "r". Raced to the party? Rode to the party? I just don't get it.
 
"It is what it is."

Seriously, what does this phrase mean? You are accepting mediocrity? I don't want to work with people with this mentality.
 
I hate when I get an e-mail from my boss saying he wants something by COB.

We don't close! So when the hell is that?
 
I never understood the British phrase, "taking the piss". It means something completely different than in the U.S.

In the U.S, to take a piss means you drop your pants and empty your bladder. In a toilet, on the grass, next to a tree, or in the face of your passed out drunk buddy.
 
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