to tell you it is downright and not "damn right"?!

[Needanewhat]

As in, "she was being downright rude" NOT "she was being damn right rude".

I see this one all the time on Facebook groups at the moment and it's silently doing my head in. Why?!

There’s a word for these misheard phrases: eggcorns.

Some people only encounter these phrases aurally, rather than through reading, and mishear them.

And in the past there was strict gate keeping on publishing, so poor grammar and spelling were rarely encountered in written English.

Now anyone and everyone can and does publish themselves on forums and blogs. And as a result the language is changing rapidly. It’s not Americanisation.

the one that really bakes my beans is are instead if our eg "I was in town with are louise"

'Preform' instead of perform. I've even heard it said on TV talent shows by the judges before, which just reinforces its use on social media. I hate it.

Yes. See also "another think coming", not thing

And what's with making two separate words into one? Eg infact, incase, abit?

I saw wallaaah! for the first time in a Mrs Hinch post yesterday it was funny because the first person to comment didn't give her tips just corrected the spelling but in a jokey apologetic way. The op accepted it laughing and said she'd never seen in written and just guessed. You can correct people without being arsey.

Writing "ect". The word is etcetera, not ectcetera.

@a8mint

Thank you for that, Captain Obvious Never ever seen or heard anyone make that mistake

If you've ever seen or heard anyone make that mistake, why are you insinuating the OP is pointing out the obvious ? How can it be an obvious error to you if you're unaware of it? How can it be an obvious error to others if they're confusing the terms?

Or are you just looking for an excuse to insult the OP?

I’ve never heard most of these mistakes. There is a section for pedantry on MN.

Yes I could scroll by the thread but I often comment because I find this type of sneering quite offensive.

I have started attending a local book club. A young woman recently joined. She posted on the facebook group that she loves to read, she reads all the time, she’s read soo many books etc. Then she wrote ‘could of.’

One does wonder what she’s reading if she’s not yet noticed that it’s ‘could have.’

I also saw a facebook post somebody had shared the other day about a woman who is now receiving potentially life saving treatment for a condition that was picked up through a routine screening apt she’d been putting off. All very important stuff, encouraging women to go for this particular type of screening, until she wrote, ‘I wouldn’t of known if I hadn’t of went.’ I just couldn’t go on after that.

I’m aware it doesn’t say anything good about me that I cringe at people’s incorrect use of language, and yes, I probably judge people on how they write, but I just can’t help it. Somebody who reads a lot should not be using ‘could of.’

I say damn right instead of downright, damn right sounds more aggressive and drives home the anger more so makes it clearer on what your saying and how you feel about it even though it’s wrong.

Could of is just a progression in language. It’s shorter so more commonly used.

It will get to a point where we just say letters soon of the first word in a sentence and you have to guess the rest 😂

@Needanewhat

I obviously know it is petty!

Agree I think you should be more focused on why you react this way to something so small.

Off your own back instead of off your own bat. It's bat but so many people make the mistake they'll insist back is also correct.

@lazyarse123

I saw wallaaah! for the first time in a Mrs Hinch post yesterday it was funny because the first person to comment didn't give her tips just corrected the spelling but in a jokey apologetic way. The op accepted it laughing and said she'd never seen in written and just guessed. You can correct people without being arsey.

I can't work it out, what is waalaaah?

And as with all these threads, the people who feel superior based on spelling come out to show how clever they are!

Can't stand the spelling police.

Could of is just a progression in language. It’s shorter so more commonly used

How on earth can people’s lack of knowledge about our own language count as progression?

But “fuck off! “ is grammatically correct, I believe?

Less instead of fewer. I see that so often on shop posters, official notices etc. It's soooo annoying. Fewer people, less of a crowd. Fewer smarties, less chocolate. Fewer mistakes, less writing.

It's Groundhog Day on MN.

@MiaMc

Could of is just a progression in language. It’s shorter so more commonly used

How on earth can people’s lack of knowledge about our own language count as progression?

Could of is just a misspelling of could've.

The real question on all these threads is - does it matter? Answer: no.

Could of is not going to replace could've in proper writing/publishing.

But the question no one has ever been able to answer is why these inconsequential and perennial misspellings irritate certain people so much.

'Could of' isn't shorter, given it's an incorrect rendering of 'could've' (not 'could have' per se). It's because we usually pronounce 'of' unstressed, i.e. with a schwa, so in people's minds, when writing quickly, ''ve' = 'of', because they sound the same. And then you get some people writing it and others, who are perhaps not so confident in their writing abilities, think it must be correct and repeat it. In all honesty, I do very much dislike seeing it, but I would never sneet.

'Wallah!' = voilà. I like it, it makes me smile.

As far as 'another think/thing coming' goes, I'm very much Team Think.

I reckon at least 2 more threads like this before the weekend.

Rinse and repeat.

Ha! I wouldn't sneet either, but what I meant is I wouldn't sneer.

Posters in threads like this are often accused of being, sneering, classist, etc. Is it possible that some are well meaning and just want to help another person out, in the same way you might gently tell a stranger they've got loo paper stuck to their shoe?

I'll put it out there. Has anyone reading this used 'alot' and 'abit' before, and just discovered that they're actually not words? Did you find it useful to learn that in an anonymous chat forum, rather than continue to make the mistake forever?

"I gave it a wide birth". It's BERTH.