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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

611 replies

MeetMeInMontauk · 15/09/2018 06:56

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?

OP posts:
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Userplusnumbers · 15/09/2018 10:43

YANBU - seeing it written down really enrages me.

However...

I struggle with some accents to hear the difference between could've and could of

Frazzled2207 · 15/09/2018 10:44

Yanbu. Drives me nuts. I do think it's almost acceptable in speech though as the contraction of could-of and could-have do sound almost the same. But unacceptable in written.

Also defiantly. But that is (partly) an autocorrect issue.

tinytemper66 · 15/09/2018 10:45

As an English teacher, I feel your pain!

ButchyRestingFace · 15/09/2018 10:46

I am pedantic, amn’t I”, would have been perfectly good English in the 18th century, and are totally logical.

"Amn't I" is still perfectly good English. And logical. In Scotland. Grin

Frazzled2207 · 15/09/2018 10:47

Also a pet peeve of mine, everyone says it round here but it sounds so wrong to me...
Lay down as in I'm going to go and lay down.
LIE down you mean LIE LIE LIE.

Lay down is past tense. I lay down yesterday. I lie down today.

MrsFrisbyMouse · 15/09/2018 10:48

Truthfully I rejoice... It's an example of language change in action and its what languages do.

Sounds swap round - brid to bird, hros to horse (posh word for this is metastasis)

Sounds dissappear - wodens day to Wednesday (syncope)

Spelling it like it sounds - sounds changing after they have been ratified in some way (like a grammar book/dictionary)

Language is as the user does. Grammar pedantry is a little like being King Canute. Much better to bend with the wind.

longestlurkerever · 15/09/2018 10:50

babdoc grammatical correction has its place (by school, parents, by gently offering to proof read someone's website or cv) but you have to be careful not to come across as rude or worse. You could even start a helpful and informative thread about common grammatical errors to avoid but somehow the sneery ones are much more frequent.

Canshopwillshop · 15/09/2018 10:51

YANBU. I also hate ‘Needs gone’ which is regularly used on a local sales site.

MrsFrisbyMouse · 15/09/2018 10:52

Seriously though. It's worth thinking about why we believe certain things/spellings/grammatical conventions are 'right'. Who decides? Who acts as the gatekeepers of correctness, and once we have identified those gate keepers, by whose authority are they deemed to be 'right'.

annikin · 15/09/2018 10:52

YADNBU drives me mad!

Also except/accept, definitely/defiantly.

They are totally different words with different meanings!!!

sweethope · 15/09/2018 10:53

Klutzy sorry i couldn’t forgive the number of times you said “sentance” . It was used far too often to be an oversight.

FrayedHem · 15/09/2018 10:55

Completely agree longestlurkerever. These type of threads aren't here to help anyone, just to mock. I must have been using could/should/would of in my English essays, but it wasn't picked up by the English teacher. By that age I was well beyond having my parents check my work. Thankfully the history teacher did correct me!

annikin · 15/09/2018 10:56

'A CV full of mistakes is not a great way to impress a potential employer'

This.

I'm sorry, it's not really about the grammar/spelling, it's about the lack of attention to detail and care in an important document.

tillytop · 15/09/2018 10:56

Snobs, the lotta yers! sweethope too many "L's" in appalled. Just saying Grin

HPLikecraft · 15/09/2018 10:57

and class and council estates were only even mentioned as an irrefutable reflection of the local demographic

Using clunky and verbose language to make a point is also poor use of language. I'm pretty sure you don't know what 'irrefutable' means because it makes no sense the way you've used it.

9amtrain · 15/09/2018 10:58

Yanbu it makes me want to crap in anger.

afrikat · 15/09/2018 10:58

YANBU. For me the worst one is 'click' instead of clique. Drives me potty

Sparklyfee · 15/09/2018 11:00

Why didn't your phone correct no one? Mine won't let me type noone

I hate "on route"

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 15/09/2018 11:03

Noone is saying, for example

I automatically assumed that the OP had been discussing this with Peter Noone, lead singer of the 1960s group Herman's Hermits, but doesn't yet know him well enough to refer to him by his first name....

It's also "There ARE a few people", not "There's".

I was about to comment on this. 'There's ' has now passed into common usage even on official forms and I've seen it on things my DS has brought home from school. Not even just things that the teacher has knocked up herself, but obviously centrally/nationally-produced resources. It irritates me very much as I'm sure that, if my DS wrote "There isn't many people....", he would (rightly) be corrected - but then he receives an exercise with "There's lots of people...." printed on it.

I winced when he started reception and there were little learning-based decorations around the classroom. One had a picture of a short caterpillar and a picture of a longer one and it asked "Which is the longest?" I don't expect them to teach the concepts of comparative and superlative in reception, but they should at least be laying the correct groundwork.

I don't know where my DS has picked it up from, but he sometimes comes out with the 'like' thing. Thankfully, not the hovering-slap-hand-inducing insertion of it between every word in a sentence, but as in "I was like" rather than simply "I said" or even "My response was" etc. I ALWAYS gently correct him and tell him that it isn't good English, as if we don't do so now, it will become ingrained as normal and acceptable before very long; however, it's become so ubiquitous, it's only a matter of time before somebody complains to me when he innocently corrects them or their child for saying it.

YY to the 'loose' instead of 'lose' confusion. Ironically, I find a lot of people who write loose when they mean lose will also write chose when they clearly meant choose. Yes, I know that English is very irregular, but if it's your native language, you really should try to learn it correctly.

Also, I know it's been in use for a very long time, but am I the only one who hates it when 'woman' is used as an adjective? Nobody would ever say "I spoke to a man shopkeeper today". It's origins were clearly historical and sexist in intent: by default, you would expect somebody to be talking about a man unless they specify otherwise that it was a woman, in which case you both take a moment to be amazed and mop your brows at the idea that a woman might be a functioning member of society. However, even if you ARE stuck in the past or a present-day headline-writer for the Daily Mail - or on the rare occasion where it might be necessary to specify the sex of the person in advance before it becomes obvious when you say the person's name and/or pronouns - THE ADJECTIVE IS 'FEMALE'.

Redact · 15/09/2018 11:05

YANBU

9amtrain · 15/09/2018 11:10

One had a picture of a short caterpillar and a picture of a longer one and it asked "Which is the longest?"

What's wrong with that? Blush

sweethope · 15/09/2018 11:11

@tillytops oops Grin

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 15/09/2018 11:15

Like most people, I have no problem with the odd slip or typo and am VERY carefully previewing my posts on this thread - and autocorrect we know about; but when you see an incoherent mess where it looks like somebody's hamster has been dancing the macarena on the keyboard and people accuse you of being a pedant and say "Don't be patronising - you KNOW what they mean," my genuine response is that I really, honestly DON'T have a clue what they mean.

Maybe I should just accept it and persevere, but whenever I see an online post (including on MN) which is just a scramble of letters and random commas, I just ignore it and skip to the next one. I imagine I'm far from alone in doing this, so if the result of not learning/using proper coherent English means that hardly anybody even attempts to read what you have actively chosen to publish to a wide audience, what was the point in your even posting it in the first place?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 15/09/2018 11:16

On a lighter note:

Who was the leader of the Pedants' Revolt?

WHICH Tyler Grin

Butterflycookie · 15/09/2018 11:16

I say could of but without realising it. If I was to write/type it, I would write could have. Don’t know why I would say it but not write it. I guess I’m so used to saying it.