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?

I’m not a fan of what I think may be an Americanism - using ‘fit’ instead of ‘fitted’.

Oh dear. Here be's me tryna be all flippant anall & sumbuddy wantsta be annoyed like.
The richness & nuances of spoken language, influenced and enriched (& yes, sometimes trashed & rendered unintelligible) by colloquialisms don't tend to translate well in text or on paper. I'll put my hands up & admit to making grammatical errors like lots of people do, but could/would/should OF makes no sense and just seems like a big glaring mistake. Which is why it stuck in my mind the first time I saw it written down.

For what it's worth I think language is fascinating and wonderful and I love how it is always evolving. I love dialects, strong regional accents, colloquialisms. But I can't help but wonder if the teaching of grammar & spelling in schools has changed significantly in recent years.

I never said it upsets me

SalemBlackCat did say that, theymademejoin, it's not all about you.

I generally presume that someone who writes in a grammatically incorrect way (e.g. could of, I was sat etc) doesn't know that what they are writing is incorrect.

I've never defended "could of", you may notice (though other posters have demonstrated amply how the error arises). Assuming people are a bit thick because they use informal language on the internet says a lot more about you, I'm afraid, but by all means, go ahead and enjoy the frisson of momentary perceived superiority as you spot another use of non-standard regional dialect.

My pet hate is people writing "rediculous". It winds me up more than is strictly necessary.

But I can't help but wonder if the teaching of grammar & spelling in schools has changed significantly in recent years

It has changed significantly in the last few years. Children have split digraphs and fronted adverbials coming out of their ears before they can read properly.

So the swear word makes it ok? I agree with everyone but find it strange that you have to use a four letter word to make your point.

I've recently noticed a lot of people spell dose instead of does, I initially thought it would just be a spelling mistake but it's again and again by the same people. Drives me crazy.

Who was swearing, Hednesforder?

I read on fb recently that someone's relative had gone into "rest bite" wtaf it's respite.

Also hate "angles" for angels, saw this a few times when people posting the first day back at school pictures.

One that may not be relevant to everyone on here is our/are.
I live in Liverpool and many people will say "our Johnny passed his driving test"
"our little Janet on her first day of school" etc but soooo many people say "are Johnny passed his driving test" and I want to throw my phone at the wall.

Haven't been on fb for 3 weeks and I'm seriously thinking of deleting it.

So little swearing on this thread! Phew! So nice not to be contaminated for once!

@actualpuffins - given that you quoted from my post and proceeded to respond to it, it was a reasonable assumption on my part that you had mistakenly thought I had said the use of "I sat" upset me. I do apologise.

Assuming people are a bit thick because they use informal language on the internet I never said I thought people were a bit thick for using incorrect grammar (and that's what it is, even if it is in common usage in certain dialects). I said I presume they don't know they are incorrect. Those are two very different things.

I discovered how to pronounce segue on this thread. Not knowing how to pronounce it did not make me thick.

I don't feel superior when I see the likes of "I sat", just mild irritation.

I originally responded to Salem's post, and then you responded to me, theymademejoin. "Not knowing something is incorrect" certainly implies you are thinking they are a little bit ignorant, at least.

Assuming people are a bit thick because they use informal language on the internet says a lot more about you, I'm afraid, but by all means, go ahead and enjoy the frisson of momentary perceived superiority as you spot another use of non-standard regional dialect.

Well said. I hope you don't mind actualpuffins, but I may have to plagiarize
"frisson of momentary perceived superiority" for use in future threads like these.

I’ve just realised that I’m sitting here trying to imagine a rest bite. I think it has potential - thanks for that Zoflorabore!

I wonder if some of these may result from speech to text functions. I sometimes get some unusual results when I use speech to text.

No problem, Seneca .

I must admit, I do correct things in my head. Most of them don't cause a huge issue but the of instead of have thing is a really big deal for me. Especially as there's an easy way to remember it (could've etc).

Slightly off topic but does anyone have an easy way to know if one should use effect or affect? Don't know how to make it stick for DS.

Oh good grief, 'could of'

I worry that I might be a bad person, but it is very prevalent and it drives me mad. Mainly because as you say it makes no sense.

This really gets on my wick as well. But its so very common for people to keep saying could of these days, they probably think it should be written,or spoken like that.. I usually feel like correcting folks who keep saying Could Of,, but I never do, as people don't like being corrected.

Also hate "angles" for angels, saw this a few times when people posting the first day back at school pictures.

Oh, don't be so obtuse

I wonder if some of these may result from speech to text functions. I sometimes get some unusual results when I use speech to text.

As Stephen Fry once commented on QI, George Bush always seemed to have an irrational hatred and fear of 'tourists'

But its so very common for people to keep saying could of these days, they probably think it should be written,or spoken like that

I do wonder how long it will be before the origins of some internet 'in-jokes' will become blurred and lost on people. Words like 'pwn', which I believe was originally a simple typo for 'own' made by somebody prominent and widely-read, but was seized upon and is now jocularly used in its own right.

Similarly, 'pron', which was deliberately altered to fool automated censors with the word 'porn' on their blacklists and which has now gained widespread colloquial use. Will we see 'experts' on Newsnight in 10 years' time debating in all seriousness the damaging effects of 'pron'? or will 'pron' (and its even more devious sibling 'pr0n') have gained independent purchase and been added to the blacklists by then too?

Will the next generation describe things as 'nassafow' as a best guess, because they've only ever seen NSFW written down and genuinely don't realise that it's an acronym and not a word?!

I'm another one who winces at could of; we was; lose/loose; bought/brought and others. Bored of makes me twitch, my adult DC say it! Yesterday on a MN thread, someone used the term 'step foot' instead of 'set foot'.

Lastly, the increasing use of myself in place of me or even I is sooooo pretentious.

I've just seen 'mute point' in a comment in th Guardian. It's 'moot' FGS.