When “I Don’t Care To” Means “I Don’t Mind”

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hey there, this is Nell Reed from Huntsville, Alabama.

Well, hello, Nell and Huntsville, one of our favorite towns. How are you doing?

Oh, doing great. How are you?

All right. What can we do for you today?

Well, I grew up in Alabama, various parts of it. And then at the beginning of my career, I moved to Northeast Tennessee, the Kingsport area. And there was a phrase there that I heard repeatedly that I’ve heard before, but it means the exact opposite in that one area than it does anywhere else I’ve lived. And that is, I don’t care to. Everywhere else I’ve heard it, that means I’d rather not. But up there, it means I don’t mind. Oh, now this is a great one. Tell us what that experience is like. What’s going on? What’s the conversation like when you encounter it?

One example would be a friend of mine was trying to organize a party, and she kept asking people when she would call and invite them, well, would you care to bring a cake or would you care to bring this, that, or the other? And the locals would respond with, no, I don’t care to. And the postage, who was not from there, was just – she couldn’t believe how unhelpful everybody was. But on the day of the party, everybody showed up with all this stuff.

Double the cakes.

Yeah, like a dozen cakes.

But another example was then after that, I moved to South Carolina. And while I was there, and I was with the same company, and I brought in a specialist from Kingsport to help us work on a design issue. And on the day that he was wrapping up and he presented his results and recommendations to the group, he ended his recommendations with saying, well, now, if y’all have any further problems, I don’t care to come back. On the faces of the people from South Carolina, they’re just shocked. And I jumped in and I said, oh, no, no, what he meant is that he doesn’t mind to come back or doesn’t mind coming back. And he said, well, that’s what I said. I don’t care to come back. And I said, no, what you just told him is you don’t want to.

Oh, no, this is delightful, Martha. I know you’ve run across this before. Have y’all run across this before?

Oh, sure. I’m just thinking about how lucky these people were to have you there as a translator.

Oh, my goodness. The cultural interpreter. The ones in South Carolina were highly offended initially to explain.

Oh, no. It’s such a subtle one, Martha. How did we get to I don’t care to, meaning I don’t mind?

Yeah, it’s a really weird one, isn’t it? I mean, you do hear it, particularly in southern Appalachia and Kentucky and southern Indiana and Missouri, that part of the country. And you’ve outlined it really well. But as Grant said, how do you get there? Well, the word care is a weird one, if you think about it, because in its earliest sense, it meant to grieve or to experience sorrow. And then over time, care also came to mean to feel interest or concern or have regard for. And we see the same thing happening with the noun care, you know, tender loving care. That’s a good thing, right?

And at the same time, if you have cares, then you’re troubled, right? You’re not carefree. And it turns out that since the 16th century or so in England and then later in those parts of the U.S. that I mentioned when you use the verb to care in a negative construction, like I don’t care or I don’t care to, as you said, Nell, it means I’m not bothered by that. I don’t mind it. I have no objection to it. It’s no trouble. It’s no care to me at all. But it can be really confusing. You know, if you ask somebody for a ride and they say, I don’t care to give you a ride. That means they do in that part of the country. But I think the nugget of what you’re saying, which I really want to emphasize, is that the noun care can be negative and positive. And so can the verb. And that’s what’s throwing people.

Is that area the only area that does use that phrase that way? Is the vast majority the way that I grew up hearing it, which is I’d rather not?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think it reflects those settlement patterns. I know that this usage also appears in Scotland, for example, and there’s a lot of Scots-Irish in those areas. So I’m sure it’s a heritage that has been passed down.

Okay. Well, and that was what I was wondering was that if it had come from the highlands regions of the British Isles because they settled so much of that area.

Exactly.

Yeah. Well, Nell, thank you so much for sharing those stories about this interesting cultural conflict. That kind of cultural friction definitely needs a Nell on the spot to interpret.

Aw. Well, thank you so much for answering my question.

All right. Take care of yourself.

All right. Thanks, Nell.

Bye-bye.

Okay. Bye.

Give us a call, 877-929-9673.