Combe Downer Alert

Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
Posts
45,167
English people buy a cup of tea from a café and if it's NOT full to the brim, complain they're being short-changed.
Dutch people buy a cup of tea and if it IS full to the brim, complain that they might spill it over themselves.
yea and if it were the opposite way around and customs were different then they would argue the opposite :p

expectations > reality
 
Commissario
Joined
23 Nov 2004
Posts
41,851
Location
Herts
I know that song.

If I’m ever served a pint that’s not a pint, I just ask the barkeep to top it up. There’s no need to be sarky about it.
This.

If I had sarcy comments back when I was a server, I'd put their drink to the side and serve someone else.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
4,525
If that ‘Heathen’ is aimed my way, I’ll wear it as a badge of honour for putting up with the obdurate English.

Surely you're the obdurate one, in maintaining your stance that "could care less" can be used, and treated as grammatically correct, rather than the English highlighting the error of your ways :p
 
Man of Honour
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Posts
3,511
Location
London
Surely you're the obdurate one, in maintaining your stance that "could care less" can be used, and treated as grammatically correct, rather than the English highlighting the error of your ways :p

I’ve NEVER claimed that “I could care less” is grammatically correct, I couldn’t, it’s fairly obvious that it isn’t.
All I’ve ever said is that it’s common parlance, and despise it or accept it, everyone knows what the person means if they hear someone say it.
Just as if you say to someone, “Did you get the bread?”, and they reply, “No, they didn’t have none”, you know without a doubt that they meant that the shop didn’t have any bread, but they answered in an ungrammatical way.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Posts
3,511
Location
London
You monster.

I’d have no trouble in accepting that charge, IF I was the one who uttered “No, they didn’t have none”, but I used it as an example in my post.
Double negatives are totally not my bag, I have a fairly extensive vocabulary, but a lifetime in London means that I speak with a not too strong Cockney accent, e.g., “I fink my ‘ouse is better than your’n”, plus I’m occasionally mocked in my ancestral homeland across the Channel for speaking French with a Nord or Pas de Calais accent.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Jan 2009
Posts
17,174
Location
Aquilonem Londinensi
"There's no such thing as a seagull, they're just types of gulls blah blah" pedants. Wouldn't have trouble picturing one if you said "what does a seagull look like"

I could or couldn't care less

Oi, barkeep this beer is defective, fill it up please

Etc.

It's like last of the summer wine in 'ere
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
I’ve NEVER claimed that “I could care less” is grammatically correct, I couldn’t, it’s fairly obvious that it isn’t.
It's perfectly grammatically correct, isn't it? What's wrong with the grammar, there?

It just isn't semantically correct given your intended meaning :p
 
Man of Honour
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Posts
3,511
Location
London
It's perfectly grammatically correct, isn't it? What's wrong with the grammar, there?

It just isn't semantically correct given your intended meaning :p

Do you mean that all the doubters were wrong when they insisted that my use of “I could care less” was grammatically incorrect when compared with “I couldn’t care less”?
As, (if I understand it right), semantics is concerned with the meanings of words then I can see where you’re coming from, but whether I’m semantically incorrect, but grammatically correct, I’ll still use both “could care less” and “couldn’t care less”, depending upon whom I’m conversing with.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Posts
3,511
Location
London
But could you couldn’t care less for a double scotch, that is the question.

I’d appreciate the offer, as I’m nothing if not polite, but as a confirmed vodka drinker, in this case I’d have to use “I couldn’t care less” for Scotch, but I’m not averse to the occasional Canadian Club whiskey, or Crown Royal Canadian whisky.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
14,660
I’d appreciate the offer, as I’m nothing if not polite, but as a confirmed vodka drinker, in this case I’d have to use “I couldn’t care less” for Scotch, but I’m not averse to the occasional Canadian Club whiskey, or Crown Royal Canadian whisky.

You monster! :eek:
 
Man of Honour
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Posts
3,511
Location
London
You monster! :eek:

Now what have I done? :confused:
I even Googled both Canadian Club and Crown Royal to see if they were spelt whisky or whiskey, if Google gave me a bum steer, see them, not me, or as it’s you Irish Tom, should I have opted for Bushmills or Jameson?
Surely not poteen?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
14,660
Now what have I done? :confused:
I even Googled both Canadian Club and Crown Royal to see if they were spelt whisky or whiskey, if Google gave me a bum steer, see them, not me, or as it’s you Irish Tom, should I have opted for Bushmills or Jameson?
Surely not poteen?

Apologies for the unnecessary angst. :D

I just thought it was the done thing to pick on any of your posts and call you a monster. :p

For the record, I’m not actually Irish and my preferred tipple is an Islay single malt whisky — the more peaty the better — yum.
 
Back
Top Bottom