Could of, would of and should of...

[pictish]

NO!

could have
would have
should have

It's past tense...it's stating what you could have done, would have done or should havedone. Could've, should've, would've are actual contractions of those terms...they're in the dictionary and everything!

It's not could'f, would'f or should'f is it?
'Of' makes no fucking sense! Stop using it!

I'm not generally one for the grammar pedantry but this one makes people look thick in a way that other common grammar mistakes don't imo.

Sorry...but I felt the need to express. Boot me about if you want.

I love it I am picked up on a comma splice on MN but there is no comment about the construction of.....

Don't this type of thread tend to preach to the already converted?

Informal obviously innit.

Increasinglymiddleaged ther was a comment about that by PlinkyTheFairyWitch two posts above yours.

I mean 'there' not 'ther' ^

She was baptised Catalina, but once in England signed her name "Katherine", "Katherina", "Katharine" and sometimes "Katharina".

And Henry's other wives (except for the ones named Anne or Jane) also used a K. Spelling of names was not standardized in the 16th century but K was fairly standard at that time for variations of this name.

I admire her greatly, by the way, and I use the K very intentionally because she did, as a small way of honoring her.

I mean 'there' not 'ther'

really...?

And I rest my case... Pedants are far more annoying than people who write 'should of'

Every time my DD said 'gotten' I corrected her. I hate the way this has crept into everyday speech as if it's correct.

It's correct in American English. It used to be standard in British English, and the colonists brought it to our shores. We kept it; you didn't. Now it seems we are giving it back. I'm a bit perplexed about why this causes hand-wringing on threads such as these; British English has retained "forgotten," which comes from the same root.

People who write "should of" surely only do it because they are misinformed? No one is claiming that maybe should of is actually correct, are they?

Some people here rather bizarrely try to defend this error by droning on about the way language evolves!!! Hilarious.

Pedants are only "annoying" because they show up the inadequacues of others.

... inadequacies

I love pedants.

The comma splice error is a scourge.

Has anyone mentioned past/passed as in: "I saw him as he walked passed." ?

There also seems to be rising confusion in the difference between know and no - "Does anyone no of any jobs?"

And there's "aswell" as well.

I cannot be here 24/7 - note informality - to correct those who have problems with the placing of the full stop.

passed and past
affect and effect
discreet and discrete
practice and practise
espresso and expresso
ect and etc

I could go on...

Maybe it would be easier if they just go for the Americanisms shoulda, woulda and coulda. Then there's no doubt that its deliberate.

Ect is just a typo. I do it all the time (along with teh).

practice and practise

Not in American English. It's "practice" for both the noun and the verb.

Yes, I know that American English does not differentiate between practice and practise. However, in the UK, we do hence the reference.

To add to the list:
council and counsel
learn and teach
borrow and loan ("He borrowed me £10")
sat and sitting / be seated ("I am sat by the window", "The waiter sat me here")

My new irritation today is "upskilling". What's wrong with "learning"?

Today 16:47 nina2b

Yes, I know that American English does not differentiate between practice and practise. However, in the UK we do hence the reference.

Going forward? Yuck

Re. "ect":

No it is not usually a typographical error because the culprits usually pronounce it as "excetra".

I hate should of. I cringe when I read it and can't take the poster seriously.
Also, people who say advise when they mean advice as in looking for advice.

I heard one recently. I brought milk from Tesco. WTF does that mean. I thought I misheard it, but it was definitely brought not bought