Standard English on its own can be very difficult to master, even for native speakers. There are so many rules and then there are even more exceptions to those rules. English idioms can be more confusing, especially when they get significantly detached from their respective origins.
One phrase that I see misused not uncommonly is “all in all,” with many people saying or writing “all and all” instead. The correct term has always been “all in all.” This roughly has the meaning of “with all things considered.” A similar phrase would be “all said.”
For example: The early mornings were difficult and my feet hurt after those long hikes, but all in all, the excursions into the Australian Outback were well worth the effort.
It may be common for people to use “all and all” in that sentence instead, but it is not the traditional phrase and it would be considered nonstandard usage. Hearing “all and all” doesn’t bother me nearly as much as “I could care less,” but it does irk me a little. Both of those phrases make logical sense, so they should be easier to remember than the countless contradictory idioms that are considered to be fairly standard usage.
English is a beautifully complex language, but this also means that you have to make sure you are using it correctly! All in all, I hope this post has been useful. Do you have any grammar questions you’d like clarified? Let me know through the comments below.
I would also think that “when all is said and done” would be a like term for “All in All.”
Thanks for the tip. I honestly don’t know what I used to say: I just don’t pay that much attention to myself when I’m speaking. I hope that after reading this, though, I will make sure to use the correct one.
Oh, and “could care less” is a mistake that bothers me to the point I almost physically contort when I hear it.
I read somewhere that ‘could not care less’ is an Americanized version of ‘could care less’. To me, the former seems like the more correct version as it is more of an absolution.
-Jean
I’m not sure that’s quite right. Saying you “could care less” sounds to me like you, well, could care less. That is, it IS possible for you to care LESS than you do at the moment. That means you care at least a little bit at the moment, which is the opposite of what you’re trying to say.
Saying you “couldn’t care less”, conversely, implies that it is not physically possible for you to care less than you do. If you could measure ‘care-ingness’, you currently care 0.
Thanks for the tips!
I’m an European with a different native language,so my English always needs improvements 🙂