The West Wing

What Kind of Day Has It Been? - S1-E22

Other mistake: I call this one an "Escher Mistake". As Donna and Josh near the end of their chat about the chair that needs repairs, they pass an office door on their left (Nancy McNally's office) just before going through another doorway. The camera that follows them passes "through" a solid wall and emerges in an office, facing a hall and stairwell as Josh and Donna enter from our left as if this has all been a continuous shot. But the camera-through-the-wall moment is actually a cut so that the actors can be on a totally different part of the set. This would be fine, except the staircase they are about to turn left to and climb only rises up about 3 feet, then the user turns left again and heads to our left - but that sends the user into McNally's office, and does so 3 feet off the floor, yet they are seen entering the press room instead. (00:11:50)

johnrosa

The Crackpots and These Women - S1-E5

Other mistake: When the President and his staff stop preparing for his upcoming press conference they decide to meet again "this afternoon" implying that it is still morning. In the very next scene Sam meets with the representative from United States Space Command he tells Sam that at 6:35 AM local time UFO's were detected over Hawaii. That's not possible. Hawaii is 6 hours behind Washington D.C. If it were noon in Washington, it would only be 6 AM in Hawaii, 35 minutes before the time the gentlemen mentioned.

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: The Lockheed 1011 was only produced until 1984. There's no way that in 1999 Toby would be flying on one that "just came off the line 20 months ago."

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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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