student asking question

How could “couldn’t care less” refer to "not interested"? Doesn't "care less" itself refer to "not interested"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"Couldn't care less" does indeed mean "to not have any interest in something; to not care about something at all." If you just say "care less" it actually means to care about something. Ex: I couldn't care less about that stupid test. Ex: I couldn't care less about what he does in his free time. We aren't even friends. Ex: Why are you telling me this? I couldn't care less. These two phrases can be pretty confusing, even for native English speakers. They continuously are considered the same meaning even though they are different. You will hear English speakers sometimes say that they could care less about something. He or she is trying to say that they do not care at all, but this is considered incorrect speech. Thank you for your question! Remember this little trick: Couldn't care less means you don't care at all about something. Could care less means you do care about it.

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