Temporary state of having lost all ability to can.


"I literally cannot even.
I can't even.
I am unable to even.
I have lost my ability to even.
I am so unable to even."


-- Tyler Oakley in re Darren Criss, (2012)


A post 2004 example of aposiopesis although it took almost another decade for it to catch on in the common vernacular. At first, all I could think upon hearing the phrase was, What? Can't even what? Be bothered to finish your sentence? But, after a while and with repetition, and oddly enough, an epiphany emerged: It made sense and perfectly expresses those times when one is unable to arrange one's thought into coherent communication and get it out of one's brain, through mouth or fingers, and into the listener's brain, through ears or eyes, in such a way as to convey the true breadth and depth of one's feelings and thoughts on the topic at hand.

Although, perhaps, I should even, and some might say I must even, as far as finishing this writeup goes, I can't even






(Even if I literally can.)


Resources:
https://www.bustle.com/articles/83139-where-does-i-cant-even-come-from-a-linguistic-analysis-of-the-ubiquitous-internet-phrase
https://usdictionary.com/idioms/i-cant-even/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62284/why-it-you-cant-even-you-never-find-you-can-even