Date:  Sat, 8 Oct 1994 13:03:59 -0500

From:  "Timothy C. Frazer" <mftcf[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU>

Subject: Re: Name that syntagm



On Fri, 7 Oct 1994, Bethany Dumas, UTK wrote:



> Mark Frank has asked me for my "evidence" that "could care less" is the

> natural (and highly predictable) result of the phonological reduction of

> "could not care less." Briefly, when "could not care less" is

> contracted (as statements containing negatives usually are in informal

> speech), it ends up with a /dntk/ internal sequence. I suspet that

> consonant cluster reduction gets rid of the /t/ and reduces the /n/ to

> nasalization of the preceding vowel.

>

> There's another factor, I think. Americans in general are uptight about

> double negatives, and I think that "less" is perceived as a kind of

> negative, which makes it appropriate to get rid of the "not" or "n't."

>

> Finally, I simply do not hear sarcasm or irony in the voices of those who

> say "could care less."

>

> Tim Frazier wrote to say that he is a believer,also. What is your analysis,

> Tim?

>

> Bethany Dumas = dumasb[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]utkvx.utk.edu

>

I think Bethany's hypothesis about consonant cluster reduction is very

convincing. About sarcasm: I first heard this expression 34 years ago

and have run into it frequently since. I have never heard it in a frame

where it would work to read the remark as sarcasm.