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?

Haitch rather than aitch is pronunciation though. I'm irish. We pronounce it haitch, although I do know it is spelt aitch. I spell it "h" though 😁.

40 job applicants. 1 job. Those who can't spell or use correct grammar get put in the "no" pile. It matters. Maybe not on here, but elsewhere.

On route

We was on our way to Manchester, or wherever, also

I’ve just seen a “wanted” ad of fb.

Someone posted a picture asking if anyone had a “chester draws” like the one in the picture.

The picture was of a cupboard. Not one drawer to be seen...

Really shouldn't that be "on fb"? Just saying.

Typo. Fat fingers.

Anything shouldn't that be "it just doesn't make sense"? Just saying.

You're all petty and ridiculous, can't even get your own sentences right! I could spend all night pointing out the mistakes, but can't be bothered. Some of us have a life!

I don't think it's a dialect thing. Contractions are standard in spoken English, e.g. 'it's' for 'it is' and 'you're' for 'you are'. But we don't do this in formal written English.

It often is an accent thing, though. Someone might be saying "could have" with no contraction, but the words are elided so that it sounds like "could of."

Tilly it’s fairly easy to tell the difference between an occasional unintentional typo or mistake, and a complete lack of basic Spag.

If one of my students hands me the former I will read it, pick up any errors as I go, and give feedback. The latter and it’s just unreadable, and I’d hand it back with advice to resubmit after major proofreading. If no improvement it will fail.

YANBU. I recently saw a ‘pleasant discrete terraced home’ for sale in an estate agent ad. Not quite over it.

I was actually sat beside my American friend in a library when she was composing an email so she said could've (or so I thought) then typed could of so I suppose in her head that's what she was saying. At the time I thought it was weird as I'd never seen it written like that before & assumed it was just poor grammar that was acceptable in America! This was pre-facebook etc. & before it became clear just how common a poor grasp of grammar is.
I think chester draws is hilarious btw! (& not in a sneering snobby way )

It's not actually acceptable in America. Neither is "I was sat."

Obviously no one actually says 'could have' when speaking. It's a normal contraction in spoken English to say 'could've'. But any understanding of grammar tells you that it's not 'could of', that simply doesn't make any kind of sense.

You should follow Jeremy Butterfield jeremybutterfield.wordpress.com/2018/09/13/calling-out-calling-out-its-time-we-stopped-inciting-people-to-call-others-out/. He’s amazing about grammar and usage. My personal pet hate is “relatable”!

reallyanotherone- shame you don't proofread your own. Don't you think punctuation matters as much as SPaG? Or is your comma button broken

This thread is refreshing. Sometimes it feels as if we cannot even express disappointment in this level of illiteracy on a forum.

Drives me nuts.

Jeepers, you lot need to get a life! Best thing you can do on a Sunday is talk about other people's alleged grammatical errors? Mmmm.

We love language. What is so weird about that?🙄

This is a parenting site. We all have children who are having to reach very high standards in grammar to pass SATs, GCSEs and A levels. We don't do our children any favours by pretending that none of it matters. And why on earth is it that the anti-grammar types so often feel the need to be so aggressive about it?

@Ihatebreakfast - nothing alleged about them.

I'm not remotely anti-grammar! Quite the opposite. I have a post-graduate degree from Cambridge in Classics and I have made a living (indeed, a fortune) from proof-reading famous authors' well-written but poorly edited work. But if you're worried about your children's academic achievement, then spend time with them, not on Mumsnet. Simple.

I’ve literally never seen Chester-draws. Except on threads like this.