Of of of of of of of of of of

[BrickBiscuit]

That's the approximate number of rogue 'of's I have seen on Mumsnet posts today alone. 'Should of', 'would of', even an 'I of' somewhere. It is spread by repetition. Should we counter by correcting every instance we can, and enforce the correct use of 'have' by repetition?

Incidentally, my title is an old crossword clue. Do solve it if you like.

YABU: no, we should leave the 'of' people unchallenged;
YANBU: yes, let's have a campaign to correct each and every instance of the error.

Perhaps these people are exhausted after a long day at work, they lead busy lives, they are secure enough in themselves that they do not feel generic conversation typed up on the internet needs to be corrected? They do not have time or the inclination, to sit around and worry about something so unimportant? This is not a C.V., or an important piece of written work; it's just Mumsnet. It's not that deep.

However, if you are feeling triggered - That's a you problem...? ;)

😬

People are adopting bad English from Americans.

She's in her 40s now, and I still can't bring myself to tell her it's wrong, but dd says "Henry and I's _."

I swear I taught her better.

.........they are secure enough in themselves that they do not feel generic conversation typed up on the internet needs to be corrected

Why not?
If you can write good English at work all day, why can't you write good English on Mumsnet?

I don't like the argument that when we're on social media, it doesn't matter about SpAG.

Uh - Oh......

Yay for you, although using rather twice in a sentence is not an error.

We'll have to agree to disagree, then. Not only is "gotten" a word once used extensively in Great Britain, it travelled over to the New World and is still commonly used in the US and Canada.

It may have fallen out of usage in England, but y'all gave it to us and we like it! 🤗

We'll have to agree to disagree, then. Not only is "gotten" a word once used extensively in Great Britain, it travelled over to the New World and is still commonly used in the US and Canada.

It may have fallen out of usage in England, but y'all gave it to us and we like it! 🤗

Perhaps it’s because few people write sentences perfectly on the first go but will take the time to revise/rewrite them at work where they are being paid to be professional. But on a forum they can’t be bothered to go to the same trouble.

Of course, that’s likely not true of those using “would have” and “try and”; they probably just don’t know the correct form.

I don't think people make the error to save time or effort. 'Shouldve' would achieve that. I fear it is made from ignorance. And I have seen it bleed into professional communication such as broadcasting and CVs. There are established usages such as 'ur' for 'your' and 'thx' for 'thanks' which people use correctly in context. This is not one of them.

She should of gotten off of it.

80s and 90s

People that use 'I seen' instead of 'I saw' should be banished 🤣🤣🤣

Indeed. Apparently YOU were never taught that plurals don't have apostrophes. Or that the apostrophes in a contraction go in place of the missing character/s
ie. '80s or '90s etc.

Would've and could've sound pretty much the same as would of and could of when you say them.

‘80s and ‘90s.

Yanbu. It’s not hard to understand that “should of” is never correct. Same with could of and would of

I'm convinced it's because people don't read any more. They listen to stuff and they watch stuff but they rarely read stuff. Could have, would have, should have i.e. could've would've should've sounds like could of etc, if you're listening and not reading. I don't think many of the current generation read actual books any more.

In the dark and distant past children read books, lots of books because there was bugger all else to do. There was no internet and no online. We had to just get lost in the Famous Five or the Secret Seven, and then P. G Wodehouse
and maybe after that find a bit of excitement in H G Wells. I imagine most people my age are pretty well read. We had very few other options. One of the three available telly channels, or a book. That's if you had a telly. We didn't.

War of the bloody Worlds I read when I was 10. It was scary stuff for a kid.
What were my parents thinking letting me read that? They were thinking it was perfectly normal for a child to make choices in the progression of their reading.

Anyway, point is, is that people say would of and could of because they rarely see i written down because they don't read. Or they only read the internet where everyone makes the same 'could of' mistake and then just carry it on.

It's really annoying, but sad in a way. That today's children are so self limiting
that they would rather play on a computer than read a book.

Not every child, obviously. But many.

Less instead of fewer...aaaarrrrggghhh

Whooooooosh

Honestly, these threads all go the same way. They’re full of people who love to dish out corrections but who get very tetchy about taking them.

I don’t buy all the proclamations of “I just love the English language and want to protect it” or complaints that misused pronouns cause them Actual Physical Pain.

Just let the thread run for a few pages and it won’t be long before the same posters are slinging around words like “ignorant”, “lazy” and “dimwits”, which immediately prove that their unsolicited corrections are all about demonstrating their own perceived superiority.

Well said. Why do the oh so superior types on MN feel they must show off to everyone else? I couldn't care less about grammar I'm far more interested in what posters are saying, but I suppose some people get their kicks from pointing out others' faults - maybe they hope it might detract from their own.

And you're right, pedants' corner is the place for the bores.

It can be expressed as “try to” instead of “try and” but both are fine and they are a twat

Nothing is worse than ‘draws’ instead of drawers.

How about my parents' dog?