"I COULD care less" or "I COULDN'T care less" Which is it?

Lord Ellpus wrote:

Another one that, although it doesn't annoy me, just sounds very strange over on this side of the pond.........

"Just do the MATH"

It's Maths over here and has been for let's see now.......

hang on, I'll do the Maths.

No way. It's MATH. Singular. Damn it Ellpus, why do you always have me looking up new things. I don't want to!

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It's short for mathematics, not mathematic, damn it. So it should be maths. Because it's plural. Like physics. Or classics. Or physical educationics.

But that's not why I'm here. I take umbrage to (with?) this statement by sozobe:

Quote:

Or "if worse comes to worse".

There is nothing wrong with this statement. It simply indicates that the person will do something before the state of affairs becomes as odious as it possibly could be, but that the state of affairs is not yet sufficiently bothersome to warrant action. It's a difference in motivation and endurance from the person who would say, "If worse comes to worst." In fact, I might argue that if worse comes to worst, the situation cannot be salvaged. If worse comes to worst, all we can do is throw out the carpet, wring our hands, and lament the fact that we did not do something to stem such an unfortunate tide of events earlier.

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Lol, math is sooooooooo weird to Oz ears, too,

Ellpus is correct.

It is a contraction of mathematics, not mathematic!

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I'm another one who goes bonkers when I hear "could care less." I believe the expression "couldn't care less" became popular in the U.S. sometime in the 50's. That was the only form at the time. Somewhere along the line the bastardized expression "could care less" came into use and became increasingly popular until it is now the more common form even though it is not meant to mean what it specifically states.

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kickycan wrote:

What do you mean? I AM a writer. Look, I just wrote something right there. And there. And...anyway, writing doesn't pay. There's the short answer.

And an accurate one, too. I recently got a check for $16.25 or something. Woo-woo.

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Mr K.....

Mathematics is referring to a multiple of different things, such as arithmetic, calculus etc etc.....all grouped into MathematicS.

If you wish to refer to a particular part of MathematicS, then you can use the singular.

e.g. a referral to Arithmetic, would then be abbreviated to "Do the Arith", which would be correct, but doesn't sound right somehow.

If one was abbreviating "bollocks", one would not say "ball".

Unless, you were Slappy, of course. Since his operation, I mean.

Just my simple chain of thought, I may add.

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Funny that this topic comes up today. I was listening to the radio this morning and the DJ was talking about the people coming out in "groves" to watch a marathon. I thought I misheard but he said it 2 more times.

Yeah Ellpus, if you do the math right the first time you don't have to do it more than once. No plural.

And what is this about going "to hospital?" You go to THE hospital. Dang English that can't speak thier own language.

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Is mathematics the plural of mathematic? Uh, NO! Mathematic is an adjective, and, as such, cannot be pluralized! Ha! I stand by my original statement...although I really couldn't care less.

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I semi-buy patidog's explanation...

How about "step foot"?

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From dictionary.com

math
n.
Mathematics.

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I never step foot on dictionary dot com.

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kickycan wrote:

Is mathematics the plural of mathematic? Uh, NO! Mathematic is an adjective, and, as such, cannot be pluralized! Ha! I stand by my original statement...although I really couldn't care less.

Just googled "Mathematic". Zilch, rien, nada.......

the screen looked at me cockily and asked me "do you mean Mathematical?"...and then showed several zillion websites, dealing with MathematicS.

Ner ner ner ner.

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sozobe wrote:

I never step foot on dictionary dot com.

Hehehe...good one!

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Or, "if that's what you think, you've got another thing coming."

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Lord Ellpus wrote:

kickycan wrote:
Is mathematics the plural of mathematic? Uh, NO! Mathematic is an adjective, and, as such, cannot be pluralized! Ha! I stand by my original statement...although I really couldn't care less.

Just googled "Mathematic". Zilch, rien, nada.......

the screen looked at me cockily and asked me "do you mean Mathematical?"...and then showed several zillion websites, dealing with MathematicS.

Ner ner ner ner.

Well you are British, which, by default, means that you are smarter than me, a filthy American, so I accept defeat on this question, although I still think "do the maths" sounds silly.

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kickycan wrote:

Lord Ellpus wrote:
kickycan wrote:
Is mathematics the plural of mathematic? Uh, NO! Mathematic is an adjective, and, as such, cannot be pluralized! Ha! I stand by my original statement...although I really couldn't care less.

Just googled "Mathematic". Zilch, rien, nada.......

the screen looked at me cockily and asked me "do you mean Mathematical?"...and then showed several zillion websites, dealing with MathematicS.

Ner ner ner ner.

Well you are British, which, by default, means that you are smarter than me, a filthy American, so I accept defeat on this question, although I still think "do the maths" sounds silly.

I know when I'm being patronised, and I won't stand for it. If you think that I'm going to step foot on this thread again, you've got another thing coming!

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I shall now go outside and suck on a fag.

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Lucky fag.

I think maths just sounds funny. It's the s sound after the th, it's unnatural I tell ya!

"I COULD care less" or "I COULDN'T care less" Which is it?

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