I think you misunderstand. He was cracking a friendly joke about you saying “heard” instead of “seen”–the error you already acknowledged. We’re all well aware that some people write or type “would of” instead of would’ve.
This board is like that. They like to nitpick. While it can be tempting to take it personally, you shouldn’t.
Err… I meant “both” instead of “body.” Sorry, I can’t in good conscious leave any errors in my post! I need to reign in my posts and check better! I need to lay down.
Pleaded is the correct form here. Plead or (God forbid) pled as past tense are generally perceived as colloquial at best. It sounds wrong to my ears too, and I was once schooled on this exact complaint, but I wasn’t too shakened by it.
Oh. Well thanks very much for explaining that. I often don’t understand what people mean behind the text. It’s often difficult to communicate via text with no face to face.
Thanks again.
I think the real point is that a spelling error like that has little to do with preference over two alternate past or participle forms. One is about the unnatural, highly contrived practice of writing, which understandably leaves people prone to such minor and frankly unremarkable errors, while the other is about natural language use, and opens the door to a discussion of something that is actually of interest linguistically. By summarily lumping the two together you essentially seal the fate of this thread to never become such a discussion, instead condemning it to degenerate into yet another of the hundreds (or maybe thousands) of threads wherein people list off the same tired, old and predictable litany of unrelated “pet peeves” and things that “drive me nuts.” I swear to God every single time it’s pretty much always same things (could of, their/there/they’re/, apostrophes, who/whom/, flaut/flaunt, less-fewer, etc.), trotted out without any regard for the original focus of thread.
I would be kind of interested in a thread about peeves if there were a moratorium on magma potatoes*. No less/fewer, no aks, no it’s/its, no literally, etc.
I was wondering last night, though, if writing coulda or shoulda is ever lambasted the way could of or should of is. They’re both clearly informal, but for some reason, I don’t see coulda being viewed as a marker of low intelligence the way could of is.
*you know, really really really low-hanging fruit.