How Much Do You Care?

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the deterioration of the English language? I'm not talking about slang and internet lingo - they actually add words to our language (lol has become the common courtesy laugh of the day). What I'm talking about is how people don't seem to care about what they say, as long as the general idea comes across.

For example, I always hear people say, "I could care less," when they really mean "I couldn't care less." Logically, if you were to look at a scale from 1 to 10 on how much you care, saying "I could care less" means you are ANYWHERE on the scale except the bottom. Yet, while both phrases have completely opposite meanings, they're generally accepted to mean the same thing.


Speaking of language nuances, it used to bug me when people tried to compliment me on a "wonderful gift" I had, when I considered it to be a talent. The way I see it, a talent is something you have to work hard at, like singing (I was pretty much tone deaf when I was 12); whereas, a gift is something that comes naturally, like my ability to creep people out. Eventually I figured out that it doesn't matter whether people see something as a gift or a talent.