Quote:
Originally Posted by DaFace
It's more just that the phrase has (incorrectly) been said so often that people don't know the difference. There are probably hundreds of phrases in the English language that don't really make all that much sense to us - we just know what they mean because we hear them so often, and the phrase takes on its own meaning.
break the ice
butter someone up
barking up the wrong tree
turn a blind eye
bury the hatchet
the whole nine yards
etc.
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Yeah, but none of those would make sense if you changed them the complete opposite of the correct phrases. Regardless of whether we know the phrases' origins, their meanings can be inferred pretty easily. Saying "I could care less" would be the equivalent of saying:
"I won't break the ice"
"I will not butter someone up"
"You're barking up the right tree"
"Turn an eye with full and perfect vision"
"Dig the buried hatchet out of the ground"
"The partial nine yards"