Lesson 49 More and more

ポイント
Helen and Mai are discussing what to do for Golden Week.

ダイアログ
Mai: I think we should just stay in Tokyo. Travelling is too expensive during Golden Week, and everywhere is really crowded.
Helen: I couldn’t agree more.
Mai: Oh...So where do you want to go instead?
Helen: Er, I want to stay in Tokyo like you suggested.

解説
Mai is now very confused because she thinks Helen disagreed with her idea and now she is saying the same thing Mai suggested. But Helen didn’t disagree. The key word here is “more”: “I couldn’t agree” obviously shows disagreement, but “I couldn’t agree more” shows 100% agreement. “I couldn’t agree more” means “I agree 100%, so I cannot agree more than 100%.” Other similar negative-sounding positive phrases include “I couldn’t be happier” and “It couldn’t be better.”