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Pedants' corner

Should have or should of?

36 replies

HeyJude07 · 16/10/2008 15:12

Because I have no idea.

Sorry if this has been done before.

OP posts:
MorticiaDoom · 16/10/2008 15:13

Should have.

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 16/10/2008 15:13

should have

HeyJude07 · 16/10/2008 15:14

Thanks, embarrasingly I tend to use should of more.

OP posts:
FCH · 16/10/2008 15:14

Should have. Should is an auxiliary and requires a verb to follow. Of is not a verb!

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 15:19

Think "of" is a misunderstanding of the contracted form "should've". that said, I think Keats used "should of"!

littlewhitebull · 16/10/2008 20:31

Try taking the should out if you're doubting yourself.

I.e. "I should have/of cleaned the car."

vs.

"I have/of cleaned the car."

Since I don't believe I've ever heard someone say "I of cleaned the car" I think it's possibly a good way to remember

ScareyBitchFeast · 16/10/2008 20:34

shoudl have,
there are so many should of s on mumsnet it is so annoying,
and otehrs,
fed up of for example

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 20:48

"fed up of"? Not sure what's wrong with that...

ScareyBitchFeast · 16/10/2008 20:49

fed up with it should be
i am fed up with this house,
not not fed up of this house for example.

MintChocAddict · 16/10/2008 20:50

should have
fed up with?

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 20:51

But what about "I'm fed up of having to clean up after you?". I don't have a problem with that - maybe a regional variant?

MintChocAddict · 16/10/2008 20:51

Cross post ScareyBitchFeast
Was fairly sure it was fed up with hence the ?

Lauriefairycake · 16/10/2008 20:53

it's "i'm fed up with having to clean up after you"

it doesn't change

midnightexpress · 16/10/2008 20:53

Nope, I'm with habbibu on this one. 'Fed up of' is accceptable too.

And my dictionary agrees.

tissy · 16/10/2008 20:55

should have

fed up with

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 20:57

Looks like it may be a modern variant - see here!

Flamesparrow · 16/10/2008 20:57

Should have, or Should've. Never should of.

prefer fed up with, but i may do of, I have no idea

Cadmum · 16/10/2008 20:58

Should have.

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 20:58

I think I do both, tbh.

Twelvelegs · 16/10/2008 21:03

Oooh, Should have, would have, could have!!
Fed up with/of I use both.....mmmm.
However in the west country we say snow pitches, not settles.

midnightexpress · 16/10/2008 21:04

Just had a look at my mega-corpus; 'fed up of' has 18 pages of citations, 'fed up with' has 300ish pages. So 'fed up with' the standard form, but 'fed up of' perfectly acceptable.

Unlike should of which is plain wrong, ungrammatical nonsense.

Like Dr Wordsmith though habbibu - never seen that before.

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 21:06

Just looked at OED - originally: Slang phr. to be fed up: to be surfeited or disgusted (with), bored or tired to breaking-point. So fed-up a. Also with emphasizing expressions, as fed to the (back) teeth, fed to death. Also without up.

So it's quite interesting - you can say "fed up with" - meaning full to the brim, stuffed, had too much of - yet we say "full of beans", using "of" in a similar way. One of the joyous inconsistencies of English.

pofaced · 16/10/2008 21:08

Any takers for:

Fed up by your behaviour?

Fed up at having to clean up after you?

And of couse should have/ should've...

Habbibu · 16/10/2008 21:12

I'm thinking that as "fed up" is slang anyway there is no point in being pedantic about it. Also interesting in OED def. is that it was quite often used without the "up", viz:
1921 WODEHOUSE Indiscretions of Archie i. 11 I've never done anything much in England, and I fancy the family were getting a bit fed.

1922 A. S. M. HUTCHINSON This Freedom IV. iv. 293 Oh, those sickening scarves and things, they were eternally knitting, that wasn't war work. It was fun at first. They were fed to death with doing them now.

1928 Strand Mag. July 4 Her aspect was that of a girl who is fed to the teeth.

pofaced · 16/10/2008 21:14

It's either an idiom or colloquialism, not slang...