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It's absolutely OK to say something like "My liver pain bothers me more than my nose bleeding" right? But what about the opposite attitude. If I don't really care about something, can I compare it with not taking care about something else, for example: "I don't give a fig about my HIV even more than about my caries"? Is it correct from the language usage point of view? or "I don't give a fig" has the constant value which is not comparable?

sovo2014
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    It's not common usage to say that you don't do something more than you don't do something else. I'd probably say, if I had to use a variant of the term you specified, "I give less of a fig about my HIV than (about) my caries." – John Clifford Mar 03 '16 at 12:56
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    "I don't give a fig" means "I don't give a fuck" which means you care nothing at all about the subject. While there are situations ("a more perfect union") where one applies comparative terms to absolute limits, it's a minefield if you're not 100% English literate and familiar with the idioms. – Hot Licks Mar 03 '16 at 13:04
  • Oh, it's OK to use F word here, I was not aware of it, but of course the idiom in the question should have been "I don't give a fuck" – sovo2014 Mar 03 '16 at 13:35
  • Although it doesn't make sense logically, people often strengthen expressions like these by saying things like "I don't give two figs." – herisson Mar 03 '16 at 15:24
  • cool! So I can say something along the lines "I don't give a fig about caries, but I don't give bonanza of fucks about HIV" :) – sovo2014 Mar 03 '16 at 16:01
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    You can use "I don't give a flying fuck". – A.S. Mar 03 '16 at 18:08
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    Please don't attempt any of the above idioms, outside the circle of your closest friends, until you better appreciate the connotations they carry. You can very easily embarrass yourself, or worse. – Hot Licks Mar 03 '16 at 18:20

2 Answers2

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In well-reasoned speech, you can't compare apples to oranges, and thus your comparison of a negative "I don't give a fig about my HIV" to an affirmative "even more than about my caries [cavities]" is invalid. Logic dictates that your statement should employ "less" rather than "more":

I don't give a fig about my HIV, even less (so) than (I do) about my caries!"

-or-

I care even less about my HIV than I do about my caries!

Egox
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Maybe I'm mistaken the point here. But to connect those ideas you'd probably have to take the long way. For that I'd say something like:

  • I don't give a fig to my HIV, so why are you talking about my caries?

or

  • I don't give a fig to my HIV, so what makes you think my caries are important at all?
Patrick
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  • HIV doesn't particularly care for figs. I think you mean you don't give a fig about your HIV. – Mitch Mar 03 '16 at 15:43