the ongoing English usage

[Carol]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince
Winston)" <catlady at ...> wrote:
>
> Carol wrote in
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37055>:
> 
> << so they'll come up with solecisms, such as "May I help who's next?"
> (where did that miserable phrase come from and how did it spread so
> quickly?) >>
> 
> I can't recall having heard that phrase before, but it doesn't seem
> particularly miserable to me. It sounds more friendly than "Next in
> line!".

Carol responds:

If the next person in line can't be readily determined, the expression
should be "May I help whoever is next?" ("whoever," meaning "whatever
person," is used when the identity is not readily determinable) or
"May I help the next person?" "May I help you?" is used when the
identity of the next person in line is obvious.

"May I help who's next" appears to be a jarring blend of "May I help
you?" and "Who's next?" either of which is grammatical by itself, but
the second sounds a bit brusque and the first implies that the bank
teller or whoever can readily determine the identity of the next person. 

At any rate, I first started hearing "May I help who's next?"  about
ten years ago" and now I hear it almost every time I stand in a line
("queue" to our British friends), whether I'm buying a movie ticket or
Kentucky Fried Chicken or even depositing a check (if, for some
reason, I'm not using the ATM). I'm expecting to hear it when I check
my luggage at the airport for a quick trip to San Diego on the tenth.
Of course, if the airline clerks are harried, I may just hear a brisk
"Next!" or "Next, please!" I almost hope they are because "May I help
who's next?" grates on my ears and is spreading all too rapidly as it is.

> Carol wrote in
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37073>:
> 
> << I'm trying to think of another expression that I first heard when
I was about twelve years old. I recall that it grated on my nerves
because, taken literally, it meant the opposite of the intended
meaning. >>
>
Catlady: 
> "I could care less." That phrase still irritates me, 

Carol responds:

Yes! That's the very one. If you could care less, then what are you
complaining about? It should be, "I *couldn't* care less."

Carol, thanking Catlady for the etymology lesson on
"chitlins"/"chitterlings," which sound revolting regardless of the
spelling