The West Wing

Show generally

Corrected entry: In the first season, every employee in the west wing (except the president) is wearing an ID badge. Since then, only a few people are seen wearing them, but surely the policy of the White House hasn't changed since then?

Correction: After a while, the guards and Secret Service would come to recognize the "big players" - Leo, Josh, Toby. They wouldn't be required to wear their badges, although others might be.

Correction: Wristwatch batteries go dead and people forget to wind watches, too.

johnrosa

Holy Night - S4-E11

Corrected entry: Toby's father is mentioned as having worked for Murder, Inc; however, the opening scene with him on assignment is set in 1954, while Murder, Inc ceased operations in the mid-forties.

Andrew Perry

Correction: Murder, Inc. was simply a joke referencing Toby's father's past in the mob business. I really, really doubt that this was a real reference.

There's nothing in the scene to indicate that it was a joke, and the flashback is - apart from the anachronism - reflective of the actual organisation's operations.

Andrew Perry

Season 5 generally

Continuity mistake: When the plan to kill the Qumari defense minister is being contemplated, several times in the last episodes of Season 3, and at least once in season 4, he 's referred to the Sultan's brother. In season 5, he is referred to as both his cousin and his brother.

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In Excelsis Deo - S1-E10

Question: This is as good a place to ask as any. In various US TV shows (including this one, and this episode), someone says "I could care less", when they always seem to mean "I couldn't care less", ie. they have no interest in what's going on. Surely if they COULD care less that means they actually care a reasonable amount? Is there any logic to this, or is it just a really annoying innate lack of sense?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: A really annoying innate lack of sense. My friends and family say the same thing all the time, and I'm endlessly trying to correct them. I think people just don't know any better and (ironically) couldn't care less that they're speaking incorrectly.

Answer: It's an endlessly annoying dropped negative, and it's been a common colloquialism for far too long. I believe it comes from an original (and now omitted and merely implied) "As if" preceding the statement. "As if I could care less." (Meaning "As if it were possible that I could care even less than I do.") But there's really no way to know.

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