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Has anyone noticed this change in tge use of the English language? Other examples
"The police should have kicked those protesters ass" not "asses"
I'm sure you get the picture and perhaps all of you are going out of your mind over this;)
I guess it could indicate that the speaker views the group as a single entity, and therefore possesses a single mind and a single ass. I suppose that might indicate something significant about the mindset and world-view of the speaker. It's also possible that they're just a dimwit with a poor grasp of English grammar.
I don't recall ever coming across what you relate, but something that irks me a bit and makes me question the language skills and basic intelligence of people is when someone says, "I could care less," when that's the exact opposite of what they mean.
If one can care less about something, then obviously they do care about it to some extent. The original version of the clichéd phrase is, "I could not care less," which obviously means that it is impossible for the speaker to care to a lesser extent because they already don't care at all.
You will notice what I'm referring to, it's a relatively new phenomenon but it's out there and becoming more prevalent. The people I'm hearing speaking in this way are speaking for a living-news anchors, journalists etc.. if or when i hear an acquaintance speaking like this i will pull them in it (depending on who it is i may even break their jaw:) ).
As for the other part of your reply, that one really annoys me. Thankfully that is only used by people from the USA(maybe Canada) people from other English speaking countries NEVER say "could care less" as it is absurd, as you said. Also thankfully people from countries where English is used as a second language do not use this abomination. Unless however they learned Ènglish through living in the U.S. probably even then they won't use it as it is ludicrous;)
See "Dear America.... Davd Mitchell's SoapBox" on YouTube, you will enjoy it - i has a gripe with what you brought up and explains why it is morw than wrong. He could care less, he actually cares alot :)
No I haven't noticed it, interesting though. I hope it doesn't change to that, it doesn't make sense and it'd make these sentences more ambiguous.
You have noticed that abomination though 'i could care less' when you actually dont care at all? When you don't care at all that means that you COULDN'T care less and not what some Americans say 'i could care less'
Yeah I can't stand the phrase "I could care less", it's just totally incorrect. Not only is it incorrect though, but it doesn't even give you any useful information. The phrase "I couldn't care less" conveys that you care so little, you couldn't possibly care any less. But with "I could care less", you may care so much that you could easily care a lot less, or you may only care a small bit, since in that case it would then still be possible for you to care a little less. So you don't even know to what level that person cares.
Now that you're aware of it you will notice if you watch or listen to news shows , podcasts etc. Thankfully i havn't cone face to face with it yet :)
A teacher told us the media has a heavy influence on grammar over time. For example, it used to be "x, y, and z" but to save a pica they dropped the last comma and now that's how it's taught it should be
I personally don't like it because there's a certain framework to all the rules that, if understood, makes it almost an artform. I fear for the future in language because ads and fake news articles also influence this, and their intention is to subconsciously control people