Re: documentary on salinger?

That's the point -- you don't value a rat's ass, and you wouldn't even give
that. The value of a rat's ass in this case isn't a matter of compulsion. It's
assumed that it has no value, and as a result, your unwillingness to even give
that ("I wouldn't give a rat's ass") says a great deal about what you'd
theoretically be exchanging it for.

In this case, though (and following this reasoning), saying, "I could give a
rat's ass" could be equally damning to the subject. Assuming a rat's ass has no
value (or even negative value somehow -- it disgusts you), you assert that you
could exchange said rat's ass for the subject at hand. That's like telling
someone you'd be more than happy to give them $25 for their new car. It's not
even worth the parts.

Seems like I've heard the negative expression of this phrase more than the
positive, but that was just in use by construction workers around Central Fl.
And I did occasionally hear the positive expression.

Dang, I should have asked at the time ;).

Jim

Yocum Daniel GS 21 CES/CEOE wrote:

> If I wouldn't give a rat's ass then what compels me or anyone to value a
> rat's ass. So, I guess I give a rat's ass since maybe that's what its worth
> or cost of having.
>
> Daniel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Rovira [mailto:jrovira@drew.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 9:10 AM
> To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> Subject: Re: documentary on salinger?
>
> Well, not necessarily. Saying "I could give a rat's butt" simply means that
> you are, indeed, in possession of a rat's butt and could give it (presumably
> in exchange for an answer about this question).
>
> Now, if you were to say, "I couldn't give a rat's butt" ("rat's ass" is the
> real phrase -- and it has a lot more going for it tonally, with that draw
> out
> ssss sound), I think you'd be really devaluing the topic at hand. I'm not
> quite sure how this works out, though. I suspect that you'd be saying your
> valuation of this topic is about equivalent to your valuation of a rat's
> butt
> -- both equally low. But I don't know how the grammar of the sentence
> actually produces this meaning.
>
> Jim
>
> Yocum Daniel GS 21 CES/CEOE wrote:
>
> > I could give a rat's butt. Does this mean that rat's butts are valuable?
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jim Rovira [mailto:jrovira@drew.edu]
> > Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 8:13 PM
> > To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> > Subject: Re: documentary on salinger?
> >
> > I've always wondered if that phrase really worked:
> >
> > "I could care less."
> >
> > I know that's how people use it. But it just doesn't make sense to me.
> > It sounds like it is, indeed, possible for you to care less, meaning
> > that you still do care a little bit, if only a very little bit. It's
> > like saying, I could hate it more. It means you don't hate something as
> > much as you possibly could.
> >
> > Now, if you were to say, I couldn't care less -- now that would be
> > saying something. It's simply not possible to care less in this case.
> > It would mean that you care for this as little as it is possible to care
> > for it. You care for it to the point of not caring at all -- utterly.
> >
> > Now this is a more sensible expression of contempt.
> >
> > The real question now is, could you or could you not care less? :)
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > -
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Received on Tue Nov 12 11:22:07 2002