to get annoyed at people who use *of* instead of *have*...

[Saddlesore]

... as in "I would of bought you a present if I knew it was your birthday".

Grrr!

Coconut, of course it has to do with education, what the heck else would it be, some schools are crap, I know I went to one, some people don't go, others have extra educational needs, some schools do not teach the basics.

I find it really difficult to believe that people go through 11 or more years of education being taught consistently throughout that period that "should of" is OK. Maybe one or two teachers make that mistake, but no matter how bad the school is I seriously doubt that they all do. And with the current emphasis on spelling and grammar in schools I suspect any teachers like that will find themselves out of a job.

There are so many more interesting things to find irritating though, aren't there?

Basically, it all boils down to snobbishness on a Hyacinth Bouquet scale.

I live in south London where the natives speak with a dreadfully common accent don't you know.

My favourite ever example of phonetic spelling was one I saw on here "say lavvy" for "c'est la vie" .

Some people have specific language difficulties which can cause the misuse of words and grammar.

Some don't and write "could of" in an otherwise fine sentence.

I hate it. I blame the education system. And trampolines.

I say it, even though I know it's wrong. I just like the way it comes out (shrugs shoulders)

It only really annoys me at work.

I regularly receive emails from professional people, often senior, who use 'of' instead of 'have' and get their/there/they're mixed up.

I read through a company policy recently where 'principal' had been used instead of 'principle' and 'illegible' had been used instead of 'eligible' and it did make me shake my head. OK, so you're not great with grammar and spelling? Fine - but get someone who is to proofread your work!

I keep seeing 'where' used, instead of 'were', as in "we where going out". What's that all about?

my favourite example of phonetic writing was on the wall in an arcade in Brixton years ago - 'for toilits, tourn right true market'.

DP is a working class Geordie who gave up on education at about 14. He can spell and use grammar correctly, never uses txt spk, if he isn't sure of a word or punctuation he'd look it up rather than guess. It isn't a Hyacinth Bouquet thing at all, he just likes things to be right.

We both have very strong northern accents, use slang and not the Queen's English, but you wouldn't be able to tell from our written words.

I hope!

When I was in school we were not allowed to use contractions when writing assignments but we learned about them; we knew "would've" meant "would have". I think there are definitely lower standards, (or perhaps I should've said "more flexibility") regarding grammar today. I work at an academic institution (although I'm not a Prof, or lecturer or anything like that) and I once had to help a student print out her assignment. The title page had an obvious subject-verb agreement error that I helpfully pointed out to her so she could change it. She didn't see the need.

Yes, I make mistakes.

My favourite phonetic spelling was "dolphin potatoes".

I have seen "he's" instead of "his" a few times recently. I am really hoping that this is just a frequent autocorrect and not that people think it is he/he's using the same rule as Jim/Jim's. I am monitoring the situation.

It drives me nuts. It really is one of my pet hates.

I often don't really trust myself to respond to the posts in which it has been done.

I can feel very at home reading Pedants' Corner.

dolphin potatoes, dolphin potatoes, dolphin potatoes ... I'm not getting it??

Dauphinois potatoes are baked in cream and garlic iirc mintyy

Dauphinoise ...the iPad can't spell

What about 'to' used instead of 'too'? That's another of my bugbears.

Oh yes them! Lovely little calorific blighters they are.

I think we all have bugbears of one sort or another.

I hate it when people say "can I pick your brains", I hate it when people say "So" at the start of a reply, I hate it when people sniff incessantly and don't use a tissue, I hate it when people start eating before everyone at the table is served, I hate it when people use bleach to clean their houses.

Bugbears are just bugbears - you will irritate someone else just as much as they irritate you.

usual I'm quite happy for anyone to point out if I've made a mistake. In fact, I'd rather they did, because maybe I won't do it again.

It's just an irritation. And an irrational one at that. But according to some people on this thread, not liking the use of 'of' instead of 'have' is akin to drowning puppies in a bag.

It's not akin titty, it is far worse bloody hate bastard puppies anyway

I like it when people set presidents though.

Usual. I agree, why do they do it?.

The people who get all aerated about mistakes on here amuse me.
So, you're so very clever and can spot the wrong word? Well done you.
Much more clever to just read it and take in the meaning without feeling the need to be a colossal twat about it, surely?