JoBlo

Mick · #1 01-27-2003, 03:24 AM

..whatever.

What's the deal with this phrase? Loads of people on this board (and other forums I read) use it. Are people using this incorrectly or am I just going nuts?

I read threads where people are denouncing someone-or-other and then go on to say things like "I could give a damn what he thinks"

Surely if you could give a damn, then you think that their opinion has some weight, or is at least worth listening to (which seems to go against the rest of the post, most of the time).

If I was to say "I could give a damn if Steven Soderbergh made another movie" that, to me at least, would mean I do want him to keep making films and I would be upset/annoyed/whatever if he didn't make another one. If I was to say I couldn't give a rats ass if Soderbergh made another movie, that'd mean I have no time for the guy and it wouldn't bother me if he disappeared entirely. Right?

The same thing goes for "I could care less"....... now, "I couldn't care less about Julia Roberts" makes sense - basically meaning that I don't care about her at all, so it would not be possible for me to care any less about her. "I think The Godfather Part III was great, I could care less what anyone else thinks about it" doesn't make much sense to me. If I could care less about someone's opinion on the movie, then obviously I do value their opinion - but in the context this phrase is used this doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm not meaning to be an asshole about this, and I'm not having a go at anyone, but it has been bugging me for a while. I see it so often now that I'm beginning to wonder if I'm wrong about this one (as absurd as that may sound).

The use of "I could care less" makes about as much sesnse to me as an 8 foot tall Wookie living on Endor. Could some kind schmoe clear this up for me, please? I've not slept for days.

If this is in the wrong forum feel free to move/close it, I could give a damn if you do

Razorblade Smile · #2 01-28-2003, 09:42 AM

I could care less about this topic. Who gives a damn?

Razorblade Smile · #3 01-28-2003, 09:43 AM

Sorry.
But I couldn't resist.

BorderEevilIII · #4 01-28-2003, 01:16 PM

My take on the slang "whatever" is the second person who choosing NOT to argue with the other person meaning whatever the dispute, discussion, etc is happening is going to be left as is.
Any other schmoes from the US wanna share their theory of the word "whatever" ?

lockedoutfilm · #5 01-28-2003, 04:17 PM

Maybe its a regional dialect?
like "come here a minute"..
come here a minute what?
Come here FOR a minute, come here IN a minute? Make up your minds.

Quote:

Any other schmoes from the US wanna share their theory of the word "whatever" ?

Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much -- oh, wait! I'm Canadian.

freakandgeek · #6 01-29-2003, 05:53 AM

sometimes, in SOME cases, i think whatever = i have nothing smart to say

The Postmaster General · #7 01-29-2003, 10:18 AM

Oh boy, more deconstructions on semantics.

You do realize it takes more than one person to hold a conversation, right?

Take for instance -

When people say, "That was the best movie I'd ever seen" after just seeing a movie.

Are you really going to believe that it's the best movie they'd seen because that was what they said? No, you are smarter than that.

You can't rely on other people to do all the thinking for you. Sometimes you have to use your head and say, "They are just excited about that movie. They probably don't really think it's the best ever. Obviously they may just want me to see it soon."

If one misplaced word really causes you to miss the point of an entire body of words, then you may not be as clever as you think.

Anyway, let's play the dialect, and semantics game....

"I think The Godfather Part III was great, I could care less what anyone else thinks about it"

That is correct usage of the word "could". The writer is saying that they like the Godfather 3, and that they care more about the fact that they like the Godfather 3 than about what anyone else thinks about it. What the writer is conveying is that they like the Godfather, despite what others think. Pretty simple.

However, that is a run-on sentance. There should be an "and", period, or semi-colon in there.

I assume you were directly quoting someone and didn't construct that sentence on your own.

Whatever though, right?

Mick · #8 01-29-2003, 02:08 PM

"I think The Godfather Part III was great, I could care less what anyone else thinks about it"

That is correct usage of the word "could". The writer is saying that they like the Godfather 3, and that they care more about the fact that they like the Godfather 3 than about what anyone else thinks about it. What the writer is conveying is that they like the Godfather, despite what others think. Pretty simple.

Well this is why I asked in the first place. If I was trying to convey that I like a movie despite what others think, I would say "I like it, I couldn't care less what you lot think", the not makes quite a bit of difference - to me, at least.

However, that is a run-on sentance. There should be an "and", period, or semi-colon in there.

So that would make it... "I think The Godfather Part III was great. I could care less what anyone else thinks about it"

Repeating myself a little here, but wouldn't that be the same as saying "I think the Godfather Part III is great. I care what other people think of it" ? Which is not the same as saying you like it despite what others think, is it?

I assume you were directly quoting someone and didn't construct that sentence on your own.

I wasn't quoting directly, no. I changed the name of the movie, but the sentence structure was the same. I don't really care about anyone's grammar or whatever (oops) as long as it makes sense. Using a word like "not" when it should not be there can make quite a difference, a misplaced comma doesn't really have much affect.

I hear people (including myself!) using phrases which don't really make sense (eg. "Believe you me"). So this is just an American thing, is it? That's fine, in fact, it's just super - but it still doesn't make sense.

Well you know what they say about arguing on the internet, so it's not really worth bothering with this topic any more. I'll just read it as "couldn't", since that's what makes sense to me. It's no big deal.

Whatever though, right?

..........

Buck Turgidson · #9 01-29-2003, 03:49 PM

Mick, my brother, you are exactly right. I hear this all the time and it rankles me when I do. It's just one of those things that's gotten twisted around and adopted in it's incorrect version via sheer repitition.

I'll give you another example: People will often say something like: "Don't be surprised if he doesn't show up." What they mean is "Don't be surprised if he does show up." Somehow the first version, with the double negative, has horned it's way into the vernacular.

There is also the occasional solecism of "Irregardless", which isn't a real word. It's a close (but erroneous) approximation of "Regardless" or "Irrespective", which are both words, which mean essentially the same thing.

The Postmaster General · #10 01-29-2003, 04:19 PM

It's no big deal.

I think so.

Though you made a good point about grammer, me be thinking. people need to sit up and fly high.

The Postmaster General · #11 01-29-2003, 04:26 PM

I've never heard anyone talk like that Buck. Where are you from?

One i hear though is when people leave the noun out. Like, "Is understood?" this bookie I place bets with always says that to me. haha.

bob · #12 01-29-2003, 05:45 PM

If you'll allow me to be a narc for a minute:

What does this have to do with movies?

bowieee · #13 01-29-2003, 07:10 PM

WHATEVER.

God I hate that word. I mean I loathe it with all my being. i think it is one of the most disrespectful words in the ZEnglish language when used to dismiss an opinion. Just the other day i was at my friends house and I saw an old picture of a bunch of us framed in a frame that said Whatever. I then began to comment the irony of being framed by my most hated word of all time. I usually am an easy going guy who accepts alot and is usually very open minded but that word is like an icy dagger in my heart. Sorry.... Its just that I HATE that word and I don't throw around the word hate alot.

daisybuchanan · #14 01-29-2003, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bowieee
WHATEVER.

God I hate that word. I mean I loathe it with all my being. i think it is one of the most disrespectful words in the ZEnglish language when used to dismiss an opinion. Just the other day i was at my friends house and I saw an old picture of a bunch of us framed in a frame that said Whatever. I then began to comment the irony of being framed by my most hated word of all time. I usually am an easy going guy who accepts alot and is usually very open minded but that word is like an icy dagger in my heart. Sorry.... Its just that I HATE that word and I don't throw around the word hate alot.

I am so with you on this. I consider it to be the verbal equivalent of lobbing off someone's head. People who use it regularly go immediately to the very tippy-top of my shit list.

Did you know that on a laptop computer with a superfast processor your avatar appears to be pleasuring himself? Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that, I just felt you should know.

bowieee · #15 01-30-2003, 01:01 AM

Never viewed it that way but now that you mention it, It does kind of look like that

Dude · #16 01-30-2003, 09:57 AM

"I could give a damn"

That one is pretty tame compared to:

"I have to TAKE a piss" or "I gotta TAKE a shit"

Who TAKES piss?... or shit for that matter?

I tend to leave MINE behind....

The proper usage is: I need to pee/piss/urinate, or "I need to poo/crap/shit, etc...

I NEVER, NEVER, EVER use the phrases..... I need to TAKE......

.... of course we ALL use slang phrases... but my particular hated ones are those.

The Postmaster General · #17 01-30-2003, 04:09 PM

Surely you all have no problem with someone saying "Whatever" in response to a foible - only when it's used to contradict an opinion, right?

I can't make heads or tails out of that avatar. daisy corrupted me.

Razorblade Smile · #18 01-30-2003, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dude
"I could give a damn"

That one is pretty tame compared to:

"I have to TAKE a piss" or "I gotta TAKE a shit"

Who TAKES piss?... or shit for that matter?

I tend to leave MINE behind....

The proper usage is: I need to pee/piss/urinate, or "I need to poo/crap/shit, etc...

I NEVER, NEVER, EVER use the phrases..... I need to TAKE......

.... of course we ALL use slang phrases... but my particular hated ones are those.

heh. That actually reminds me of an old George Carlin skit.

"I've gotta take a shit!"

"Don't take one of MINE! I've only got one left and the weekend is coming!"

Dude · #19 01-30-2003, 06:32 PM

Oh man.. I forgot THAT!.... maybe that's why its buried in my psyche! Carlin ROCKS!

daisybuchanan · #20 01-30-2003, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove
Surely you all have no problem with someone saying "Whatever" in response to a foible - only when it's used to contradict an opinion, right?

I can't make heads or tails out of that avatar. daisy corrupted me.

Using the word "whatever" in any other way than it's purpose by definition to me, could bring about unpleasant and unpredictable consequences. It's best to stay out of the gray areas and thereby life a long and prosperous life off my shit list.

Corrupted? Little me?
*daisy smiles innocently, in the full blossom of her virgin youth*

(It is every avatar's right, nay responsibility, to pleasure himself/herself at regular intervals)

Buck Turgidson · #21 01-31-2003, 07:53 PM

I was thinking of another Carlin classic:

Things You Don't Ever Want To Hear Your Girlfriend Say.

"Honey, I gotta go take a dump!"

"Fine, fine...do what you've got to do, just don't come back and tell me about it!"

Classic.

Buck Turgidson · #22 01-31-2003, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove
I've never heard anyone talk like that Buck. Where are you from?

Talking heads on news and sports programs use that "don't be surprised if he doesn't" thing all the time. I've heard a lot of them use "irregardless", also.

I'm a sourtherner...we've got a whole lot of weird things to contribute to the language and vernacular, but you can't blame us for those two.

the movie guy · #23 02-01-2003, 06:54 AM

What I hate is...

Do you fill IN a form, or fill it OUT?

What the fuck does "hear hear" mean?... WHERE WHERE? (I used this phrase once on the boards and felt like a moron afterward.)

"I don't give a rat's ass." "I don't give a flying fuck." "I don't give a shit."

"Hella."

Also, I completely agree with "I could care less." "I've gotta take a shit." and "Don't be surprised if he doesn't show up."

And when someone says "whatever" to me after I've just expressed my own interest in something I've shown them, I tend to want to shove my fist through their chest.

BadCoverVersion · #24 08-12-2005, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mick
..whatever.

What's the deal with this phrase? Loads of people on this board (and other forums I read) use it. Are people using this incorrectly or am I just going nuts?

I read threads where people are denouncing someone-or-other and then go on to say things like "I could give a damn what he thinks"

Surely if you could give a damn, then you think that their opinion has some weight, or is at least worth listening to (which seems to go against the rest of the post, most of the time).

If I was to say "I could give a damn if Steven Soderbergh made another movie" that, to me at least, would mean I do want him to keep making films and I would be upset/annoyed/whatever if he didn't make another one. If I was to say I couldn't give a rats ass if Soderbergh made another movie, that'd mean I have no time for the guy and it wouldn't bother me if he disappeared entirely. Right?

The same thing goes for "I could care less"....... now, "I couldn't care less about Julia Roberts" makes sense - basically meaning that I don't care about her at all, so it would not be possible for me to care any less about her. "I think The Godfather Part III was great, I could care less what anyone else thinks about it" doesn't make much sense to me. If I could care less about someone's opinion on the movie, then obviously I do value their opinion - but in the context this phrase is used this doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm not meaning to be an asshole about this, and I'm not having a go at anyone, but it has been bugging me for a while. I see it so often now that I'm beginning to wonder if I'm wrong about this one (as absurd as that may sound).

The use of "I could care less" makes about as much sesnse to me as an 8 foot tall Wookie living on Endor. Could some kind schmoe clear this up for me, please? I've not slept for days.

If this is in the wrong forum feel free to move/close it, I could give a damn if you do

Mick...I feel your pain. I am now obsessing about this nonsense turn of phrase.

I knew this rant already existed so I've decided to dig it up so the new kids can read and take heed.

All together now,

"I COULDN'T CARE LESS!"

Two extra consonants and an apostrophe...how hard can it be?

Am I just not hip?

jaw2929 · #25 08-12-2005, 02:28 PM

Agreed... Also I LOATHE the saying "same difference"... if it's the same, how in the FUCK is it different?

TheDeadWalk · #26 08-12-2005, 04:13 PM

"Apple is a fruit and carrot is a vegetable."

"What about a pear and a pea?"

"It's the same difference."

It just means that the difference is still the same.

chasingbanky · #27 08-14-2005, 02:42 PM

I really think that this rant is kinda silly... First of all it isn't a movie related rant, and second of all half this board probably hasn't even graduated high school. To say you don't understand it is one thing, but you apparently get what they're trying to say and just want to correct them. Pointless, if you don't like it then private message them. Actually don't PM someone over how they type, just let it go.