Annoying spelling, galling grammar, irksome words, frustrating phrases

Wayne Mack said:
Consider the case where someone is very concerned about an issue and is not willing to reduce his or her level of concern. Surely, that person "couldn't care less;" that person is unwilling to show less concern. The statement relies on interpretation to determine why one's level of concern cannot be reduced.
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That's a neat argument, but it relies on "could" meaning "is willing to" more than (as I would argue) "is able to" in the sense of "is not being prevented from".
 
Which means that both of your interpretations are correct, depending on the users use of the word could.

So, in this case I could probably care less, but honestly , I couldn't care less.
 
The only way to 'not care less' is to be already in a situation where you don't care at all. It's not a case of prevention or willing. Basically if you don't care at all about something, you are unable to care less because you are already at the nadir of 'care'; even if you wanted to.
 
Maybe it's just me but I don't like the way "Thanks for that" has replaced "Thank you"
It seems to depersonalise the interaction. Thanks for the function you carried out, not thanks to you.
It seems particularly inappropriate when one has received a present.
 
farntfar said:
Which means that both of your interpretations are correct, depending on the users use of the word could.
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Yes and no: If someone says, "I could do that," the meaning might rely on the way it was said, i.e.

I could do that (with the unenthusiastic tone of voice expressing, "but I really don't want to").​
​
I could do that (with the enthusiastic tone of voice reinforcing what could have been added: "and I'd really like to").​
​

I can think of at least two more meanings that depend on the tone, but I'm having trouble with naming those tones.
 
One that seems fairly common amongst 'yoof' (there's a constant parade of our youngsters playmate's in and out of our house and taking all the nice snacks) is their version of describing someone performing a salaam.

"Yeah, Mohammed was at the front of the school yard this morning, every time a teacher came in he was doing Ali-Baba's at them to try and get one back"

Personally I think it's very good, you know at once what they mean.
 
Parson said:
Actually "hone in" does make sense. Honing is the work of sharpening a knife so when you "hone in" you are working toward making you effort more effective and sharper.

ie. You have to hone in if you are going to make your argument effective.
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Yes, it's an example of a mistake (it was originally "home in") that gains traction because it does makes sense. (It's actually the one I was trying to recall upthread.)
 
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