Could have versus could of

I agree.

But if it's written down then how can you misinterpret it? I think we are at cross purposes here...you are talking about spoken language and I was referring to it written down....sorry if there has been confusion!

My thoughts exactly 😂

@Waitingfordoggo (and others), As PPs have said- dyslexia and other learning difficulties impact spelling
but people with dyslexia and other learning difficulties might find it hard to read
hadn’t of been, his defiantly been unreasonable or There going there in there car.

OK it's accent if they say it. If they write it then that's just wrong.

That’s what I mean about broadening your horizons.

It’s not how I interpret it either but I don’t find it bewildering because I can understand how some other people do.

I don't interpret it that way at all. Could've I just hear as a contraction of "could have".

What’s ‘completely bewildering’ to you about it?

Have you ever been outside of your own community or watched TV shows where people’s accents are different to your own?

If you do this you’ll be less bewildered, because you’re more likely to understand that some people hear things differently and therefore learn them that way.

‘Could’ve’ for example is often heard as ‘could of ’ instead of ‘could have’.

I can see this becoming commonplace as younger people will never see let alone use a cheque and so the word itself becomes practically archaic.

I wouldn’t know what a tuppence ha’penny was if it was thrown at me so if i miss spelled it I would feel it was forgivable.

I am completely bewildered when I read it incorrectly. It wouldn't even cross my mind to say "could of".

It’s also a result of teachers and broadcasters using the incorrect form

Could of/might of is paling into insignificance next to the bastardisations that are:

went/gone
saw/seen
on/by
loaned/borrowed

I could have went there.
you should have saw that.
I did it on accident.
I did it on mistake.
I loaned it off her.
I borrowed it to her.

Am I a pedant or is fucked up grammar just annoying? I’m not perfect with my grammar but I feel some things are just more grating than others.

It's certainly grammar/spelling when you see it written on forum posts.

These I really don't understand, because my phone and laptop won't let me type them - doesn't everyone have auto-cunt now?

Then I also often see "in tact" instead of "intact". Why are some words joined and others separated? It's so arbitrary.

Those sorts of things really are just evolution of language though, even though they do grate on me when I see them because my brain is habituated to the other form. "Could of" is different, it's simply wrong.

@Trendyname "Maybe I am AIBU "

The I am is redundant here because AIBU stands for am I, so you have written Maybe I am am I being unreasonable, which is kind of meaningless.

A bit like PIN number or VIM melting

Exactly, it’s like when people put posts on facebook asking people not to do stuff, not to drive a certain way etc.. the only people paying attention are the ones who don’t do it anyway.
People who write things like this won’t change.

The pub where DD worked had a sign on the ladies loo saying “No dogs aloud” so presumably they were allowed in as long as they didn’t bark! 🙂

On the subject of dogs:

…but you manage not to say "I'm taking my dug for a walk".

They do say that where I come from in Scotland!

“Hey you, get off of my cloud”

Maybe illiterate pop songs are also partly to blame for poor literacy!

Crossed posts- sorry @Vroomfondleswaistcoat- I didn’t see your post! Yes, lack of reading is a huge factor.

As PPs have said- dyslexia and other learning difficulties impact spelling, as does lack of education obviously.

Another factor might be that people don’t read as much as they used to (reading social media doesn’t count because much of it is spelt incorrectly!) When I was at school, and when I was a teacher, the children who read the most books were usually the best at spelling. When you have seen things written multiple times, you can make that connection in your brain to the thing that you’re hearing/saying. Many of these people will have heard ‘could’ve’ almost daily in their lives but have never read the words ‘could have’ in a book.

People don't read. They don't read books or newspapers, all they read is the internet, so mistakes like this continue.

I inwardly scream at 'ect' and the wrong form of discrete/discreet used. If people read more books they would pick this kind of thing up without having to be taught.

I think so much of this is a result of people reading standard English text far less than in the past. For many people the only reading they’ll do will be texts from other people whose English is also rather limited and the result is a downward spiral.

Yes - and may reflect the pronunciation of English used by early settlers in America, rather like the way Americans sound ‘rs’ in words where this doesn’t happen now in standard English (but it does in some dialects, such as West Country).

Exactly:

'I of been to the shop' until this becomes acceptable (never) no-one can claim
'I could of ...' is a development of the language.
I deliberately avoided any discussion of been/gone.

I agree.