Quick Question for Americans

[blamebrampton]

I have a usage question, fingers crossed there are a couple of people ambling by who can answer it.

I know that the use of 'I could care less' for 'I couldn't care less' is regional in the US (it's confusing to the rest of us, but once you know it exists and isn't an ironic turning of the phrase, it's easily understood, so no wuckers (as about 11 Australians still say).)

HOWEVER, I see an enormous amount of 'That's such a cliché ending,' but I don't know whether that's US standard, like aluminum*, or US regional like could care less.

Help!


* I'd say it was all Noah Webster's fault, which it pretty much is, but Humphry Davy started the whole palaver. I read an hilarious blog about ten years ago with a British scientist ranting about the fact that the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry's ruling in favour of aluminium was broadly ignored in the US. 'Fine!' he wrote. 'In that case, Sulphur! SULPHUR! Phuck you all!'

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It confused me SO MUCH the first time I heard it because I didn't know if it was
i. a mistake, like 'If you think that you've got another thing coming', which falls into common use because it sounds OK;
ii. a perfectly acceptable variant based on regional usage, or;
iii. a cheerfully ironic use of the phrase in the way people sometimes say 'cheap at half the price' meaning much too expensive rather than getting cheap at twice the price backwards.

And I am easily confused, due to having too many Englishes in my head at the best of times!

We've all got weird local things, though. Australians run words together in different ways than I'm used to, and I still have SE English constructions that make people look at me blankly. I told Mr B "You go through these lights and take the following left" and he not only missed it but ranted, '"What's a following left? Why would it be following me? If it's following, how can it be coming up?!" I should add that he is a giant bumhead sometimes.

[kath-ballantyne.livejournal.com]

*blinks* I know I also came from SE England but I don't think I know anyone here who wouldn't get the following left thing. No one I've given instructions has had any problem with that. They have had problems with me mixing up right and left etc but that's a different thing entirely.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

He is from Queensland and Newcastle ...

I thought it was fair enough that he was confused by it, but wasn't willing to grant that it was inherently hard. And he had lulled me into complacency by having the right next for next Saturday and so on!