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 see snuck has sneaked in.

An example of how could of may end is well illustrated.

I think phonics has a part to play.

Myself also hate could of. Yourself is NBU

Tomatoe's or even tomatos' .... You know

Could of/would of, defiantly instead of definitely and few others always make me re-read the comment to see whether I might have missed something to warrant the use of it. I do make SPAG mistakes too, but I think these mentioned above are at a completely different level tbh.

It makes my eye twich a bit. And English is my second language, can't imagine how it makes natives feel. 😂

Sign me up for the grammar police! For me though, it's when people say Haitch instead of aitch. Aaahhh, get a dictionary you morons and look it up! Nobody says the N Haitch S, so why do people think Haitch is right? (I know aitch is a common noun, not a proper noun btw, but had to use a capital letter to emphasise the H!)

I think snuck was the original past participle of sneak, but sneaked has taken over as “correct”. Bit like dive; dive age dived

I may be wrong though!

The one that gets me is when speaking and there is a word starting with a vowel with "the" before it and they do not pronounc it "thee" e.g. thee end, thee apple etc.

Oh and "You was"

beepbeeprichie That made me laugh!

I’ve got one “anyways”. Facebook is full of it and don’t get me started on the there, their and they’re. It’s not that hard is it?!

YA so NBU

YANBU - totally agree.

My pet hate is when people misuse language in an attempt to sound intelligent. If you don't know what infer means, don't use it.

And HATE the increasing misuse of 'myself' instead of 'me'.

I agree @Longpinkbanana.

I can't take anyone complaining about the use of the English language seriously if they use the word snuck.

Things that really annoy me are 'grinds my gears' and 'give your head a wobble'. Far more irritating than could of and should of!

"Have/has went".

My mother says this a lot. " He has went to the shops".

My kids now say it too.

Drives me bonkers.

It's the worst. But if you die a little inside ever time you encounter it, you will soon be dead. It's frighteningly common.

Bit- yes, that's right. Both irregular and regular forms of "older" verbs are considered standard.
"Text" however, as the past tense of "to text", is not. Despite what almost everyone on MN seems to think. Neologisms are all regular.

YANBU

I opened my DS14 planner this week, and there it is: could have, would have, NEVER could/would of. Sent me laughing, than I thought somebody responsible must be on MN

Been/seen instead of being/seeing.

Could of makes me cringe too, I live in area where H get dropped from words regularly, so don't know if that's a reason for it? Maybe it does sound like of instead of have to them?

This is worth watching again. 'Some people think if they put the word grammar in from of the word snob..'
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2016/apr/20/grammar-snobs-are-patronising-pretentious-and-just-plain-wrong-video

YANBU!! Could of really jars me too. And “was you?” And aloud instead of allowed. And people using no instead of know.

English isn’t my first language and I still struggle with a/the sometimes and my grammar may be awful at times but I still get annoyed about those issues I mentioned above

Also "should of"

So no, YADNBU.

love this thread!

Can I just leave this here... it didn’t seem to bother anyone else

LongPinkBanana ….totally agree.

Not keen on the word "snuck" but each to their own .

Language is evolving every day ,sometimes it is like a code I have to decipher when the kids speak with me .