AIBU to die inside a little bit every time I see 'could of'?

[MeetMeInMontauk]

Yep, it's another sanctimonious grammar-Nazi thread, so I'm going to get in early and tell all the bleeding heart virtue signallers who usually jump on these threads to do one, straight out of the gate. I'm interested in the experiences of others regarding what appears to be some sort of epidemic (at least on Facebook) or a near-ubiquitous grammatical blind spot in modern written English. For context, I live in an upcoming area of the SE but with an inescapably working class heritage and large council estate community, although this trend is by no means limited to the local FB community pages and is something that I see from even university-educated friends. How has 'could of' snuck in almost unremarked? Obviously as a corruption of the enunciation of the contraction 'could've' when spoken, but even then it makes no sense, if given even the slightest thought. Noone is saying, for example, 'Did you of one of my biscuits?', but the application of 'could of' seems almost universal in some circles. I accept that its contextual use means that nearly everyone involved understands the meaning and intent, but it's an inaccuracy that appears to be gaining continued traction. Does it make anyone else cringe, or do I just need to get back in my cage and chill the fuck out?

But KayBush that is surely more understandable since “lay down” is sometimes correct eg “she lay down on the bed”.

I’ve started doubting everything I write now!

This thread reminded me of this

I have never forgotten way back in the 70s when the only correction in my otherwise uncorrected, A grade, handwritten (messy but clear to read, just) English Essay was crossing out the word "of" in "should of" and replacing it with the word "have" by my Teacher.

I was in my 1st Year of secondary and newly arrived from the USA and I think that it was regarded as an 'Americanism' back then.

Being able to type freely and sometimes at the mercy of whatever technological interface/medium I'm using does lead to more grammatical errors on my part but those outweigh my generally messy handwriting.

However, I feel that text-speak, swiping, predictive text, a telephone pad instead of a qwerty keyboard (or even pen) and the excessive use of Smartphones and Apps as the preferred use of communication amongst many has led to the current grammar 'crisis'.

Hay!
Prolly
Soluble azprin

can I get is used loads in Scotland!

I bet all your heads explode when trying to read Scottish Twitter www.twitter.com/scottishpatterr

Soluble azprin
I had to read that twice and once out loud😂

Oh sorry @BitOutOfPractice! 😂

Apparently I get serious when it comes to grammar and spelling... lose all sense of humour and can no longer identify tongue in cheek comments.

As you were 😂

I hate it too.

I saw a thread where someone had put both 'I would of' and 'to of' in one sentence.

Is it poor education or some sort of highly contagious bad grammar virus?

Oh do fuck off with your "council house" pish (this is a colloquialism in case you're wondering). I grew up in a council house. I now live in a council house. I also have a Journalism Degree.

Incidentally I hate "could of" etc too but you just come across as sneery and insufferable.

I absolutely hate it too! I have tons of these though. How about "woke"? I mean what the hell is that?! Or the new use of the word "mood". And then there's using the wrong "to/too" and one that gets me is "breath" when they mean "breathe" - using "breath" twice in the same sentence but they mean something different for each use. Lastly (although, as I said, I have tons of these. Just don't want to fill up this post) I hate people who don't use full stops. They type one long sentence and you have to work to make it make sense.

Do you not like paragrapshs either Goth237? Your post would have benefitted from at least one paragraph break - or is that me being a pendanic arse?

*paragraphs ffs

And "pedantic" StoorieHoose

Darn it!

@FrayedHem

These types of threads...

HTH

Oh wow, thanks so much Aspenfrost. Without someone there to catch my typo, I might have died. You're a true hero! So very kind, thank you.

I am unashamedly a grammar pedant.

Most of these things make me cringe, but would/should/could OF are particular culprits. Talk about butchering of the English language!!

The one that is starting to bother me is "amount" instead of "number" as in "the amount of people who are doing ....". I see it frequently now.
It sounds so wrong to me.

I hate that too, OP, and I'm definitely a grammar pedant. Another one that really irritates me is the wrong use of the pronoun 'I'. For example, 'They came to visit DH and I.' You wouldn't say, 'They came to visit I.' The pronoun should be 'me' in both sentences, as 'I' is the subject and 'me' is the object. Grrr.

Typo!!!!!

Okaaaaaay

I recoil when I read about something offered "for free". "Free" on its own is all that's needed, or "free of charge".

What about “None of them are going.” instead of “None of them IS going.”?

Dreadful.

@MeetMeInMontauk
I’m unsure of the point of your long rant as your grammar is also incorrect.

Bit out of, shouldn't that be "She laid down on the bed"?

Recently I've seen a lot of 'generally' when the person means 'genuinely'.

And 'too' when they mean 'to'.