MovieChat Forums > The West Wing (1999) Discussion > Just a little pet peeve . . .

Just a little pet peeve . . .

posted 9 years ago by goleary-78836
26 replies | jump to latest

I'm having a great time binge-watching. Just starting Season 3, and loving every second. I'm a huge Aaron Sorkin fan, and I think he's a brilliant writer, except he has Toby making the same grammatical error over and over, and it's sort of driving me crazy!! I know it's silly, and I admit that I'm hyper aware of these kinds of things, but it is grammatically incorrect to say "I could care less." Like I said, I'm just beginning Season 3, and he's done it probably half a dozen times. I find it ironic that in the Office of the White House Communications Director, the Director himself would get this one little thing wrong so many times. Thanks for letting me vent. That is all.

[–] information_police 8 years ago

"I could care less" is a New York colloquialism meant in a sarcastic manner that evidently is not understood by a lot of the country.

It is exactly something that Toby would say.

"Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules. "
-Walter Sobchak

[–] joystar5879 8 years ago

This former New Jersey gal remembers the expression VERY well. It's definitely regional New Jersey/New York, and pure TOBY.

I love the use of dialogue for characterisation. Those four words described the character perfectly: a person dropping in in the middle of the series would immediately "get" the character and his origins.

So I should care? You betcha. Toby Schiff is no "Henry Higgins", and I thank G-D for it.

I do hope he won't upset Henry...

[–] Ithilfaen 8 years ago

I love how people who obviously know nothing about their own language actually think they know better than someone who wields it as a weapon.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco