'Could of' ' Would of' ' 'Should of'

[Guy Fawkes]

Grrr....................

This is basic stuff. Why are there so many people who get this wrong?

Winds me up, I can tell you.

GCSE and A-Level results show an increase in the number of people passing and also getting the higher grades, but i bet a lot of those who did well arn't great at grammar.

I believe that teaching in this country has become far more targeted towards answering what is likely to be asked in an exam rather than giving pupils a full and rounded grounding of each subject, and as a result of this, teaching correct spelling and grammar have become less of a priority during lessons.

I'd bet that in terms of demographics, most of those who criticise the spelling and grammar standards on here are from the older generations where it is seen as being important to get it right whereas the younger members would see it as being less important to get right (mainly due to the subject never being taught it properly at school.)

 

[Lewes' best seagull]

Does'nt this mean it's to easy?

 

[Kubes]

Before I lend a tenner off you can you borrow me twenty?

Isn't it "Before I lend a tenner off of you"

 

[Gwylan]

I'd bet that in terms of demographics, most of those who criticise the spelling and grammar standards on here are from the older generations where it is seen as being important to get it right whereas the younger members would see it as being less important to get right (mainly due to the subject never being taught it properly at school.)

That's because students lost marks in their O Levels and A Levels if they spelled words wrong. IIRC. you were allowed three mistakes per exam and after that there was a mark deducted for every spelling mistake (and as we had no multiple choices, there was a lot of writing to do).

I might have the exact detail wrong (I'm sure another old timer will correct me) but there were definite penalties for spelling mistakes and I remember that we all worked hard on eliminating our mistakes - like seperate and occured, my two most common errors.

 

[bhaexpress]

This thread is turning into a bit of a damp squid. Anyone else agree?

Init.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

I think the "of" thing is down to phonetics. When speaking, people tend to say should've, would've, could've and so on, which sounds more like "could of" than "could have", so people tend to write that way.

But people have always pronounced those words in that way without, until very recently, making that ludicrous error in writing.

So what's gone wrong?

 

[Knotty]

But people have always pronounced those words in that way without, until very recently, making that ludicrous error in writing.

So what's gone wrong?

1. A decline in education standards (not the fault of those who get it wrong)
2. A 'couldn't-care-less' attitude to getting it right.
3. An attitude, these days, of 'I'm never wrong and you can't tell me I'm wrong.' It's not 'cool' to accept you've got something wrong and to get it right in future.

 

[Notters]

It's well good innit
"Can I get a coffee" with the annoying Australian intonation rising up at the end of the sentence really winds me up. Yes you moron of course you can GET a coffee - what you actually mean to ask is "Can I HAVE a coffee"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

a) it's "MAY I have?"
b) it's supposed to have an intonation, it's a question.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

I have seen someone write "Irish Jay" for "RSJ"

 

[Simster]

I think the "of" thing is down to phonetics. When speaking, people tend to say should've, would've, could've and so on, which sounds more like "could of" than "could have", so people tend to write that way.

Oh yeah. I hadn't thought of that.

In other news, the reason fish live in water is because they wouldn't be able to breath on land. And I bet you don't know why Man Utd finish above Blackpool nearly every single season. It's because they're a bigger club, they've got more money and better players.

 

[Badger]

Anyone fancy an Expresso?

 

[Collar Feeler]

My own personal observations are that bad english, grammar and spelling seem to be most prevalent in the 20-30 year olds I work with. I am often left shaking my head in disbelief at the shocking level of basic language and writing skills that are apparent in police officers in that age group. Some of the statements they write or write on behalf of victims and witnesses are just woeful. I have seen elements of text/email speak appearing in evidential statements that have to be read out in court. I also cannot fathom why some of these people seem oblivious to spell checker in Microsoft Word?!

What irritates me the most though is the bastardisation of the english language that has occurred and somehow morphed and given us the god awful 'gangsta' street style patois that infects our teens. It just makes you sound like a dim witted numbnut - innit.

An actual conversation I had with a white middle class 14 year old lad:

Me: Alright mate, much going on around here tonight?

Him: You is da feds man, I aint never got no respect for youse guys ever since my man was banged up for not doing nothing. (Delivered in some kind of strange west indian/american accent)

Me: Mmm, Ok. What's you name mate?

Him: Julian.

And so it went on.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Anyone fancy an Expresso?

I'm good thanks.

 

[The Large One]

GCSE and A-Level results show an increase in the number of people passing and also getting the higher grades, but i bet a lot of those who did well arn't great at grammar.

I believe that teaching in this country has become far more targeted towards answering what is likely to be asked in an exam rather than giving pupils a full and rounded grounding of each subject, and as a result of this, teaching correct spelling and grammar have become less of a priority during lessons.

I'd bet that in terms of demographics, most of those who criticise the spelling and grammar standards on here are from the older generations where it is seen as being important to get it right whereas the younger members would see it as being less important to get right (mainly due to the subject never being taught it properly at school.)

Basically, I agree.

But... 'teaching correct spelling and grammar have...'

 

[The Large One]

'10 Items or Less...'

 

[Badger]

Disabled toilet

Surely that implies there is something wrong with the toilet, or am I being a pedant?