# Should OF? Would OF? Could OF? I'm screaming... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404 "2005-06-15T17:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/21 "2005-06-15T20:11:35Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Funny “looser” story. > > Right after the election, I was lazy and didn’t take off my Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker (in my window). I was also lazy and didn’t get my car washed. > > One day, as I am leaving school, I find this scene: > (On my window) > > [KERRY EDWARDS 04] > ^ > Looser What a boozo! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/22 "2005-06-15T20:12:22Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > …So… is there a hyphen in anal-retentive? Yes. Pity it can’t be a colon, but there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/23 "2005-06-15T20:22:59Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > So… is there a hyphen in anal-retentive? Depends. I am an anal-retentive bastard. I, a bastard, am anal retentive. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/24 "2005-06-15T20:27:22Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > How do you correct somone or make a grammatic suggestion without appearing to be a pompous ass? You don’t. And don’t go telling me you can’t correct someone’s manners without looking like an ass, too. I know that. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/25 "2005-06-15T20:31:38Z")
Are you certain they’re just not trying to create an online persona of stupidity to bait you into calling their bet? “I should of bet more that time…gee…I could of just checked…I guess I’ll call…FULL BOAT, SUCKER!!!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/26 "2005-06-15T20:40:36Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > (…)So… is there a hyphen in anal-retentive? Sometimes. But _I’m_ not going to be the one to yank it out. I think, **Jurph** , that you’ve nailed the head on the hit. This bodes a disappointing future for prescriptive grammarians, because elocution is even farther down the road to extinction than the rules of grammar, and I can’t think of any examples of a language that remained uncorrupted in its written form as its spoken vernacular drifted, especially where literacy is the norm. I would prefer language to be more carefully constructed, precise in its meaning, and beautiful, especially when its use has a public audience. I’m an Edwin Newman fan. Language is one of our earliest and most complicated tools, and it has two jobs: to convey information and to please our brains in the same way other art forms can. But I think that if I get too hung up on the flaws in the language I’m reading or hearing I miss a lot, like letting a wrong note sour a whole symphony. 99% of the communication I receive is free or nearly so, and I think I should try to find meaning and beauty in as much of it as I can, flawed as much of it is. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/27 "2005-06-15T20:47:45Z")
I agree with the OP, and **Jurph** sums it up nicely. “Should of” makes _no_ sense (as **Liberal** points out). Just because two things are homonyms doesn’t mean that substituting one for the other is acceptable deviation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/28 "2005-06-15T22:29:24Z")
How come it makes “no sense”? (Extra points for finding the hidden message.) ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/29 "2005-06-15T22:31:54Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > :rolleyes: It’s “should uh”. > Duh. rong…its **shoulda** dur… ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/30 "2005-06-15T22:39:33Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > You really need to get a grip. The English language will not be reduced to one thousand simple words. However, it will evolve over time, sometimes in ways that annoy you. This is what it has always done. Perhaps one day “should of” will be considered correct to all but yourself, who nobody will want to talk to because of the constant whining about how when _I_ was young people used to say “should have”. In the long run, we’re all dead and the earth crashes into the sun. But stupidity is immortal. I teach freshman English. “Could of” is the least of it. ☹ :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/31 "2005-06-15T22:57:11Z")
I’m with you, **Stoid**. I’ve noticed “should of/could of” etc. in several Terry Pratchett books. It grates, reading along, immersed in a story, belief suspended, then wham, a glaring typo. Maybe Terry writes like that, maybe some one at the publisher does, I dunno. But they should stop. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/32 "2005-06-15T22:59:21Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Those who make excuses for the dumbing-down of English, spoken or written, are the same who think it’s acceptable to park in a fire lane, because they were only inside “for a minute.” Cast both into the pit of ever darkness. If traffic laws had successfully evolved over the centuries by such actions, you might have had a point there. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/33 "2005-06-15T23:01:59Z")
> [@Siddhartha Vicious](#): > > I’ve noticed “should of/could of” etc. in several Terry Pratchett books. It grates, reading along, immersed in a story, belief suspended, then wham, a glaring typo. Maybe Terry writes like that, maybe some one at the publisher does, I dunno. But they should stop. The first time I ever noticed it was in _Rumble Fish_, by S. E. Hinton. But it’s put in there on purpose, because the narrator is supposed to be kind of an uneducated, white-trash kid. Now, when people don’t realize that it’s wrong, that drives me bugshit. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/34 "2005-06-15T23:10:25Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > There is some shit up with which I will not put! While I scorn the “never end a sentence with a preposition” rule, I’d like to point out that the reason peope can, and should, end a sentence with a “prepostion” is that they are not actually prepositions. _Put up with_ [something] is a phrasal verb. The _up_ and the _with_ are not prepositions, here; they’re particles. So if you say: _“This is some shit which I will not put up with.”_ and someone tells you not to end a sentence with a preposition, you can say: “I didn’t. I ended the sentnece with a particle. Two particles, actually. What do you have against that?” As for _of_ for _'ve_: I’ve seen worse. And believe me, it’s nothing new. Things like this have been happening for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/35 "2005-06-15T23:57:04Z")
Myself [sic] finds it very concerning [sic] that many people seemingly can’t tell the difference between referring to something and being worried about it. These are usages that I’ve become aware of in the last year or so, and I keep wanting to yank people’s tongues out for using them. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/36 "2005-06-16T00:02:43Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > How come it makes “no sense”? > > (Extra points for finding the hidden message.) (They) come down [bajan] and are to guide us (we) [y han de guiarnos]? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/37 "2005-06-16T00:05:42Z")
> [@furt](#): > > I teach freshman English. > > “Could of” is the least of it. What are you inferring? [sub]:-)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Coffee\_Manic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Coffee\_Manic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coffee_Manic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/38 "2005-06-16T00:08:07Z")
My opinion is that the point of language is the communication of ideas. The idea was successfully communicated. Therefore, there was nothing incorrect about their substitution at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/39 "2005-06-16T00:12:44Z")
I’m a descriptivist, and I find this sliding too abhorrent to mention. Written language is far more fixed than spoken language and should not be tampered with as easily. However, the problem, as I see it, runs deeper than the writing itself; there is a consequence beyond this travesty. First you have an uneducated person who has access to the internet and must do something he or she scorned in school: writing. They never really learned, so they have to wing it by writing phonetically. Obviously, this is where ‘should of’ comes in. Now you have millions of people writing ‘should of’ ‘would of’ ‘could of’ and so on all over the internet. And millions of other similarly uneducated folk see this as written…_and they think that’s what you actually say_. And they begin using it as though it were ‘should of’ – and yes, there can be a noticeable difference in the pronunciation of ‘should’ve’ and ‘should of’. And so does this abomination of a spelling error cause an artificial shift in the language. I have no problem with natural shifts, but something like this theory of a world gone mad… I may be overstating the case, but then again, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404/40 "2005-06-16T01:07:56Z")
> [@](#): > > **Coffee Manic** : My opinion is that the point of language is the communication of ideas. The idea was successfully communicated. Therefore, there was nothing incorrect about their substitution at all. your game no blame no shame thats lame (And all of the English teachers who taught you to construct your sentences so carefully and clearly are sobbing in the faculty lounge. Trust me.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-of-would-of-could-of-im-screaming/308404.md?page=3)