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AIBU?

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Original poster

Could of, would of and should of...

302 replies

pictish · 10/07/2017 13:22

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.

OP posts:
Original poster
pictish · 10/07/2017 16:04

I don't give a fuck if posters put 'zilla' on the end of words as detailed in the thread you started about how annoying it is three days ago...so where does that leave us?

OP posts:
Wtfdoicare · 10/07/2017 16:06

I see it all the time on FB and it winds me up greatly as well. Every time my DC say it, I correct them too. If it is an easily enough made error because of pronunciation, then why is it so common to see it written and hear it now, whereas I never remember it used to be around a few years ago.

MarklahMarklah · 10/07/2017 16:07

I know someone who can not or rather will not distinguish between he's/his, to/too, are/or/our/hour (all written as "are") and their/there/they're. The person is the same age as me, has had the form of schooling as me, has no SEN, but just can't be arsed (or rather '"can't be asked") to correct this.
On the flip side, my friend who has dyslexia and dyspraxia checks everything scrupulously to eliminate errors. My friends for whom English is not a first language do the same.

I think one of the problems is that there is little taught about the origins/derivations of words. We might know that a chaise longue is not a 'shez long' but we don't know why it is called what it is called. Same with have/of - if people don't realise that the 've is a contraction of have, then phonetically of sounds pretty much identical.

Onhold · 10/07/2017 16:09

If you can use AS to search me maybe AS how many times this thread gets posted.

stuntcamel · 10/07/2017 16:13
Grin

Totally with you OP

Original poster
pictish · 10/07/2017 16:16

I could but maybe I don't give a fuck.

OP posts:
MikeUniformMike · 10/07/2017 16:17

Patty. schwa is the 'u' sound that you get is an unstressed vowel. Like the a in Susan. Should've is more like Should uv and not Should of.
Why would anyone shorten "should have" to "should of".

SenecaFalls · 10/07/2017 16:24

Seneca. You are not correct. People say should of because they think that is what they hear. the sound that you hear in 've is a schwa and is in English the same as the a in about. Google schwa if you don't believe me.

No. People say "should of" because that is what they hear. Please see PattyPenguin's post above.

Noctilucent · 10/07/2017 16:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JustDontGetItAtAll · 10/07/2017 16:37

SO irritating!!!!!

It really raises my blood pressure when you come across, otherwise seemingly educated adults, that cannot grasp such simple grammar!

Charlesbakerharris · 10/07/2017 16:40

I've also seen it down in print in one of the F Scott Fitzgerald books I read last year. Both examples were made in the early 1930's.

In The Great Gatsby, anyway, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes his less sophisticated characters use phrases like "he'd of got me" as a deliberate literary device to highlight the gulf in education and social class between them and the "gilded" characters of the novel.

The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, so I think all this hand-wringing about no one valuing spelling anymore is slightly over the top. I think part of the problem is that due to social media, everyone's spelling is now visible, whereas twenty years ago we'd have had no bloody idea whether Margaret next door or a mum from school wrote "should have" or "should of."

FWIW, I'm an English teacher. I would be disappointed to see it in an article or published source, or from a pupil who should know better, but can't get het up about it on an online talk forum, which surely should have a relatively informal register anyway.

@chemenger - LOVE the Rouge Gallery! Might have to steal that!

@igotthemustardout, if you would like to PM me your post, I would be more than happy to check it for you so you can ask for help without worrying about spelling or grammar.

NotYoda · 10/07/2017 16:43

Thank you pictish

I can see where it comes from (could've sounds like could of), but I think we have a duty to point it out so they DON'T DO IT AGAIN

nina2b · 10/07/2017 16:56

Someone used "me and her" instead of "she and I" recently.

I couldn't take her seriously.

Some would also say or write the following:
"She kept it for you and I." instead of *She kept it for you and me.."

lovemycatsanddog · 10/07/2017 16:56

Wether they think it sounds like should of or not ,surely they went to school and know the proper way to say and write things

nina2b · 10/07/2017 16:58

People should learn some grammar, frankly, if they are unable to differentiate between have and of.
Hmm

SenecaFalls · 10/07/2017 16:58

IGotTheMustardOut Please don't avoid posting because you are worrying about your grammar. I think the vast majority of MNetters don't give a toss. And believe me, we all make mistakes at one time or another, including some of the people on this thread in the very posts they are making bemoaning usage errors.

nina2b · 10/07/2017 16:59

It is not rocket science, people.

nina2b · 10/07/2017 17:00

Today 16:58 SenecaFalls

IGotTheMustardOut Please don't avoid posting because you are worrying about your grammar. I think the vast majority of MNetters don't give a toss. And believe me, we all make mistakes at one time or another, including some of the people on this thread in the very posts they are making bemoaning usage errors.

Care to get your red pen out?

MikeUniformMike · 10/07/2017 19:49

But Seneca. I have told you it isn't. Which bit do you not understand.

Onhold · 10/07/2017 19:57

It sounds like should ov to me. ov and of sound pretty similar.

BuzzKillington · 10/07/2017 20:03

Drives me nuts too, OP.

My (seemingly intelligent) friend posts 'could of' on FB regularly. I want to tell her, but daren't.

MikeUniformMike · 10/07/2017 20:04

how would have go to of/ov
it goes to 've. The schwa is inserted. Schwa sound isn't an 'o' sound.
Susan and Suson wouldn't sound the same. About isn't said as Obout.

Onhold · 10/07/2017 20:10

In my accent it would sound like should ov. Maybe not in yours but in mine it would. So it's easy for me to see why people make the of mistake.

MikeUniformMike · 10/07/2017 20:15

You completely miss the point.
God knows what your accent is and I think you are just picking an argument. Jog on.

NotYoda · 10/07/2017 20:23

Mike

I also have an accent that doesn't differentiate much between
about and obout (unless I were to stress the O). Likewise Susan and Suson - if you said Suson fast and without stress, just as you do when you are saying should've or should of

So I'm not sure why the need to be so rude

I'm from Essex, by the way, and know that "of" is wrong because I know that should of is grammatically incorrect and therefore how to write it