While we’re on the subject of homophonic misspellings… the past tense of the verb lead is spelled led. There’s a metallic element called lead which is pronounced like led, but it’s a different word.
I don’t mind the should of vs. should’ve thing as much as I do what usually follows:
“We should of went the other way.”
“I should of ate less.”
I see this all the time by people who never make other grammatical errors - at least none that I catch.
This happens when people start thinking the way they’re spelling. As long as someone is thinking “should have”, then the proper form of the verb should be obvious. But once the phrase turns into “should of” in their heads, all connection to proper verb form goes out the window.
Oh, and my favorite net-construction is “for all intensive purposes”. Drives me absolutely nutty!
“Point in time,” not “Point and time.”
I do like using error forms in a correct fashion though.
ie
High powered vibrators are better than dildos for all intensive purposes. 
jjimm I did say I am against language Nazis. I also claim very little skill in grammer and less in speling.
btw I imagine jjimm pronounced as one word with a double j sound, sort of like the sound made pumping new rounds into a shotgun.
It’s pronounced “Juh-juh-i-muh-muh”. More like a small child doing an impression of a machine gun.
On a completely different side note…I used to think it was “a grain assault” instead of “a grain of salt”.
I have a co-worker that does the “should of” instead of the “should have”. After 5 years I still am proud I’ve not become the grammar nazi and have corrected her. I guess I figure she knows the “your/you’re” difference and that’s my big sticking point. I didn’t go on a date with a person because they didn’t know that one.
My grammar pet peeve of the moment is “try and” when it should be “try to”.
When you say “I’m going to try and catch the 9:00 show”, what you’re really saying is “I’m going to try to catch the 9:00 show and I’m going to catch the 9:00 show”.
The correct way is “I’m going to try to catch the 9:00 show”.
The other day I was talking and caught myself saying “try and”
My personal favorite right now is “persay.”
Though I have a soft spot in my heart for “case and point.”
Julie
King king?
I had a co-worker write an unintelligible memo and then when called on it, apologized for the “confusement” it caused.
She should of used confusion, right?
I can deal with phonetic spelling; the misspellings that really bother me are the ones that are conspicuously unphonetic, like “where” for “were” or “weary” for “wary.” Those make me suspect that the author never learned basic phonics in the first place.
I had a friend who used to say, of things that abounded, “It is a bound!” I had to prove to her that “abound” is one word and a verb.
“Drownded” or “You’ll drownd” always bothers me.
Allow me to add:
“I could care less.” when “I couldn’t care less” is meant.
Could you care less? Really? You just don’t want to or what?
My current peeve: “different than”. There is no “different than” in English. One object cannot contain more “different than” another. However, one object can be “different from” another.
Faster than, higher than, uglier than…those are valid. But “different than” is not.
I pacifically* hate one other, more.
*as opposed to ‘atlantically’, of course
The disputed usage is sarcastic. See this recent thread in GQ.
You know, pacific originally meant “of a peaceful nature, tranquil.” The ocean was named later. Whether one can peacefully hate something is debatable, but the grammar in that sentence is correct.
You’re mostly correct. From The Concise English Dictionary:
That suggests you’re fighting a losing battle there, bucko.
Me, I’m just happy to find any London teenager who doesn’t say “you was”. 