to of said something

[zobey]

I started training for a new job and we are in a large group for this. Every time that the trainer is talking the same group of lads sit and talk. It's really off putting and I've tried to block them out but I carnt. A few others in the group have picked up on it too. I stayed behind and in passing mentioned it to the trainer who said he has noticed and will be sorting it tomorrow. Was ibu to say something?

I think you were brave, Op. Wish I'd been when the trainer on a course once kept referring to us all as "Lads" - I was the only woman there and he was a friend of our very sexist director ??

I must be one of the few that quite likes being picked up on grammar mistakes. For years, I thought I was a 'pendant'

Oh Sunshine where did I defend or attack anything? My statement was factual. I looked it up because I was interested. I like words and their changing meanings. So you can keep your chippy comments to yourself thanks. In other words ODFOD

If people 'want to learn' there are plenty of resources out there.

The comments weren't made in a.....Oh,btw Op, just in case you didn't know,blah blah way, or AFTER answering the ops question though were they?

It as very much...why do people do that?! It's have not of thick. Rude, not helpful or well intended at all.

^^ mistakes galore to rip to bits there!

I find the error in the title of this thread too distracting to read the rest.

Then don't read it .
Is that a staggeringly complicated concept - 'I'm so distracted I can't read anything else on the thread so I will move on to something else'

What kind of twat posts on a thread to say they can't read it's?
And what teeny brain is so distracted by of instead of have that it causes their ability to read to shut down?

Ah so you need to have perfect English to use mumsnet? So anyone dyslexic, learning English or with SEN need not apply? Vile. Or it is just people you deem to have lower intelligence who aren't welcome? Any pedants care to explain?

Really BigBlue ?

AHEM!

Typos happen folks. If you're pedantically inclined it can be annoying, but it's really not the issue here. In the words of Frozen...

zobey - hope you manage to say something to those lads, it must be v annoying!

Funnily enough I think that most of the proper pedants who use pedants corner and who have a genuine love for,and interest in language, don't do this rude , smug correcting thing.
It's not motivated by a love of English, just a desire to be unpleasant and superior.
Horrid.

Exactly, Lois.

Most Mumsnetters are forever falling over themselves to prove how inclusive and non discrimatory they are, until it comes to written English by others and toilet cleanliness standards.

I like to imagine them sitting hunched over their screen, salivating when they spot an error. Fingers tying themselves in knots at their haste to be first in with a snippy pointless 'helpful' post.

I've seen it on threads where the op has been in distress, pouring their heart out, sadgrammarfuckwit turns up and says "my EYES are BLEEDING", "Ever heard of PARAGRAPHS op?", " Actually op It's AIBU to have called the police when my abusive husband pulled a knife, not of" etc etc. Usually :)

I'm not sure if you're actually reading my posts bit but no one as far as I can see on this thread has accused you of attacking anyone. Though feel free to get offended at this perceived slight if it makes you feel better! And actually none of my posts have been directed at you except the last since you seem so determined to respond personally to me!
The presentation of a dictionary definition to support the use of an offensive term is defending the posters using that term. It may be factually correct but it's also insensitive, rude and inappropriate. You could probably look up dictionary definitions of all manner of offensive terms - they exist and are factually correct. using them however displays a total disregard for the feelings of others.

I wouldnt have waited to speak to course leader. I'd have just barked "oi shadap" at them when they started during the meeting.

Erm, your post about looking up nazi was directed at me. You accused me of defending the word's use. I said that I had neither defended nor attacked the word's use, but merely looked up its definition when you came in with your chippy irony comment.

You can chose to interpret it as a defence. It was not. Though fwiw I think you are looking utterly ridiculous up there on your high horse.

"oi shadap"
What language is that?
Is slang allowed on mumsnet?

I clearly understood what the OP was trying to express so I really don't give a flying fuck about the of/have mistake.

I do get pissed off when I see grammatical errors on signs, in reports, on literature etc... but that's because I think someone's probably been paid somewhere down the line to produce it and it's slack not to make sure it's correct.

It doesn't almost cause me PAIN though. That's one hell of a strange condition.

Indeed wishme.

I saw errant apostrophes in a national chain's in-shop signage yesterday (I think it was Sainsbury's, but it could equally have been Next or BHS, I can't remember which).

To me that is inexcusable because it would have been produced by a team of sign designers, probably with an experienced supervisor, and then printed by a large scale professional signage company and out of probably dozens of highly paid professional people, not one of them has noticed the error and corrected it before distribution to stores.

But on here, where people are just arguing chatting anonymously in an informal context, perfect English is nice, but by no way compulsory.

It might seem a bit harsh to correct someone over the use of "could of" instead of "could have", but for some it's really hard to ignore. Perhaps it's a good thing to make people aware of this common mistake. Let's be honest, it is annoying.

I saw a sign-written van the other day offering 'no job to small'. And yes, it made me wince. (It was sign-written on all 4 side too.)

It may be annoying but that is an issue to raise independently surely?

Start a thread and/or ensure that ones own posts are as perfect as possible and model correct usage.

But picking on an individual poster, on a thread in which she is asking for advice, is just wrong and mean.

I do think that some people don't actually know that it's not 'of' but a short-form of 'have', as in 'could've' ('could of' being a particularly common one) or indeed 'to've' for 'to have'. It does sound the same, but it is not the same.

I've found that "to and too" is more common than the "could of, could have" mistake. It's so basic, I don't understand why it's such a problem.