Should of, Would of, Could of.....AAAAARGHHH

[hellymelly]

I see this on virtually every thread above a page or so. It is driving me round the bed. Please tell me I am not alone.

Drives me nuts. This is what we were told in school, about 50 ahem, years ago.

Drop the could/should/would, and if the sentence still makes sense then it's right:

I could of paid.
I of paid. WRONG.

I could have paid.
I have paid. RIGHT.

It's so easy.

On a brighter note, we have a greengrocer in town with NO stray apostrophes! They sell tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, as opposed to tomatoe's, potatoe's and cucumber's. It is wonderful, and quite possibly unique!

It is so easy, you are right. And it crops up in sentences where the author seemingly unaware will then say something like " I have been washing the dog", along with something like "I should of been washing the dog".

and they say standards in education have not dropped

(Actually, they probably haven't, but the emphasis has changed I think.)

You are not alone.

Isn't it people used to saying 'should've, could've, would've' but then typing it all wrong?

You can abbreviate like that can't you?

(Not that that makes it right).

First time I have ever posted in here, what I am thinking?

No, you're not alone. You'd hate my fb feed; it appears that many of the people I know have never attended an English lesson.

Shall we be driven round the bed together? Sounds like fun.

What am I thinking Gobbler! Tsk!

I HATE this. My ds 18 sometimes sends me a text with "could of". It drives me mad. I am ashamed of my own offspring, AND I tell him so

It drives me bananas too. It takes all my strength not to correct people.