Is this pedantry?

[BlueMoonRoses]

I have a good friend who is in business for herself. Client base is City and professional services. I also have my own business and work with her occasionally.

However, her writing style and grammar are, in my opinion, not good. One particular thing that really stands out is her using "should of" or "could of" rather than "should have" or "could have". I mentioned it to her once and she said it was because she was dyslexic so I haven't mentioned it again.

It's really bothering me though. What would you do, as pedants or otherwise?

Should Of and Could Of ---- I can hardly type them without hyperventilating. If she knows she is dyslexic she should get A Friend to proofread everything and correct it for her. Just good business sense.

Dyslexic or not, she's made an error, you've pointed it out and she has made an excuse and not corrected it.

That's the issue, not the fact she made the error.

She is being an idiot.

I really do not understand how dyslexia could cause such an error - this is pure ignorance and no smokescreen of excuses should be allowed to cover it. A dyslexic can see the difference between "have" and "of" I agree that, for the sake of her business, the kindest thing to do would be to point out gently that if she goes on doing this it is likely to affect both her reputation and her income very badly with her target market.

I would not use a service provider for anything involving the written word if there was evidence they could not produce standard English.

I agree, seeing simple errors like that would put me off using a business. My DD is dyslexic, she wouldn't make the of/have error.

Thanks. Especially the point from BearPear about the dyslexia. It did feel like a bit of a poor excuse tbh because there are ways round it - like getting someone to proof-read. Or even having a note by the PC to remind her.

If someone knows they are weak at something important then it makes sense to get someone else to do it. IMO grammar, punctuation and consistency are important in business - if you have poor grammar it reflects badly on you, which is unjust, of course, but we judge by what we see on someone's website.

If she needs a good proofreader, I know one - top quality work and low prices for MNers! shameless promotion PM me!

My technician at work says 'should of; could of; would of' with great emphasis on 'of'.

I clench my teeth every single time.