innate Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 I often find myself wondering why we wear any of this stuff or consider it to be remotely important. Most people in our land could care less. <tangent> I think you mean "couldn't care less" <and of tangent>. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidh Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Sorry to resurrect this topic, having enjoyed reading various contributions so far. However, I now find myself in the unusual position of being told I HAVE to wear a hood for Sunday services (nearly always Eucharist). I have occasionally worn one in the past, but I resent being told I have to wear one and would appreciate any information regarding church law/conventions etc. that people are willing to share that would possibly aid a constructive communication with the boss! What happens if you refuse? Bell, book and candle? Prosecution in some obscure church court still living in the middle ages? Peremptory dismissal by "the boss"? Does the church have anything worse to threaten? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DQB123 Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 <tangent> I think you mean "couldn't care less" <and of tangent>. I mean they would if they could! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DQB123 Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 What happens if you refuse? Bell, book and candle? Prosecution in some obscure church court still living in the middle ages? Peremptory dismissal by "the boss"? Does the church have anything worse to threaten? Hell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vox Humana Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 <tangent> I think you mean "couldn't care less" <and of tangent>. I get the impression from other forums I visit that "could care less" is normal American usage - though it could be that the posters just don't know the idiom either. "Couldn't care less" is certainly more logical. I will now await the chorus of replies from people saying they couldn't (or could) care less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHM Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 I get the impression from other forums I visit that "could care less" is normal American usage - though it could be that the posters just don't know the idiom either. "Couldn't care less" is certainly more logical. Correct - the former is normal usage in American English, and the latter in British English (though I fail to understand the logic, if any, of the former). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Hell? ======================= I'm looking forward to it......no clergy to worry about, nice firseide chats with fellow organists, central heating and some spirited characters to stimulate the mind. I really would be quite bored in heaven, and in any event, I hate harps. I like to think that when I'm gone, I'm gone. MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Correct - the former is normal usage in American English, and the latter in British English (though I fail to understand the logic, if any, of the former). =================== Having had an American partner and endless arguments about the way he pronounced words wrongly, in spite of several degrees and specialising in English Literature, the term "could care less" is entirely logical, but only if said the American way. "As if I could care less." Hence the common use of the phrase "As if....." which is now used in the UK a great deal. The poor chap had never heard the word "boffin," which I liked to use; knowing that he didn't understand the origin of it. The OED claims that the origin of the word is unknown, but that's rubbish, as explained to me by a young Squaddie. In the army, a death casket is called a "box." A familiar war-time term was "brain-box." If a box is a coffin, a Brain Box is a Boffin.......simples! Was it Oscar Wilde who said, "America and England; two countries divided by a common language?" MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DQB123 Posted September 6, 2010 Share Posted September 6, 2010 ======================= I'm looking forward to it......no clergy to worry about, nice firseide chats with fellow organists, central heating and some spirited characters to stimulate the mind. I really would be quite bored in heaven, and in any event, I hate harps. I like to think that when I'm gone, I'm gone. MM Well when ya gotta go, ya gotta go! But I have heard that Hell is the place where you can't get near to the fire for vicars..... BTW having been married to an American for 19 years it's "could care less" in our house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Robinson Posted September 6, 2010 Share Posted September 6, 2010 'Couldn't care less' v. 'could care less'. Personally, I couldn't care less which(!) Lets forget our differences and, instead, adopt the phrase uttered by Captain Bligh (was he played by Trevor Howard?) in Mutiny on the Bounty: " It is of supernatural indifference to me..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now