[nindalf]

I usually send personal messages when I see this particular error. That's not possible on HN, so I guess a comment is the next best thing. Your downvotes, however, tell me we should just get used to seeing it "could care less" more often.

[umanwizard]

> I usually send personal messages

why??

> this particular error

It isn't an error, unless you think language has to be perfectly regular and logical with no warts. That's a fantasy. Language develops organically and as such we should expect contradictions and illogical constructions to arise from time to time.

Everyone knows what "could care less" means. There's no external, objective standard by which you can say it's "incorrect". Stop worrying about it.

An example of this type of inversion that has become widespread: in French, "pas" means "not", but originally meant "step", and came into its current meaning via (roughly) the following sequence:

"Je ne marche" (I don't walk) -> "Je ne marche pas" (something like: I don't walk [even a single] step) -> "Je marche pas" (over time, "ne" became dropped in informal speech, and "pas" carries the negative meaning.)

[scrollaway]

You just blew my mind - never gave a thought to the etymology of "pas". I had to verify it because I simply couldn't believe it.

Come to think of it it also explains how "point" is sometimes used instead of "pas".

[umanwizard]

Yep, and constructions like "il ne dit mot", "il ne boit goutte", etc., were once much more common than they are today. Not sure why "pas" became the canonical negation word out of all those choices.