must have, should have, could have, would have - aaaaargh

Orcish-Horde said:
It is the way I speak, have has been replaced with of. The two have become totaly interchangable in the context you have writen them.

I would have done it.
I would've done it.
I would have done it.
I would a done it.
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Speaking it is one thing but spelling it is another.
Would you actually write 'would have' in a sentence?
 
I have just been listening to John Snow and some doofus chatting on Channel 4 News and heard Snow pronounce longevity as longgevity (i.e. with a hard g) and then the doofus constantly pronounce submariners as sub marinas. What is wrong with these people? :)
 
funny-facebook-fails-frustration1.jpg
 
Tute said:
I hate it when my girlfriend says "free" instead of "three" and suchlike.

"What do you fink?"

And to make it worse - she's on school placement as a trainee teacher, and admits to saying it like that in class.
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almost as annoying (but not) as the over use of the word "like"

And then like, she said this and i was like this, and then she was all like blah blah blah and i like, said to her, blah blah blah back

ARGHH !!! *implodes*
 
Should've, could've, would've are all contractions of 'should have', 'could have' and 'would have', so are generally fine to use when speaking or writing, though I'd advise against using them under formal situations.

The problem arises when people mistakenly write (for example) 'should've' as 'should have', when it should be written as 'should have'.

/end thread
 
titaniumx3 said:
Should've, could've, would've are all contractions of 'should have', 'could have' and 'would have', so are generally fine to use when speaking or writing, though I'd advise against using them under formal situations.

The problem arises when people mistakenly write (for example) 'should've' as 'should have', when it should be written as 'should have'.

/end thread
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I know an awful lot of people who actually say "could have" (two separate words) rather than "could've".

The other one that raises an eyebrow is "what we done was"
 
Good point well raised dmpoole :)

It is less to do with the evolution of the English language, and more to do with the discrepancy between the sound of a word and how it is spelled.

The reason in your example? Schwa. Its a sound all English speakers make all the time (although I hasten to add, a sound non-native speakers can struggle with). Say the word "The", that "Uhh" at the end is the Schwa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa


Morba said:
get over it. simples.
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A phrase/word which should be banned, there is no such word in the English language :p
 
MrLOL said:
give it time.

Wouldn't be surprised if it makes its way into the OED the way its over used now.
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I think I remember back when "web 2.0" became the something millionth work and reading about what allows a word to "get" into the dictionary.

It has to be proven it's been used in everyday language a certain number of times (several thousand). Where exactly the word needs to be used - assuming social media doesn't count - I've no idea.

Web 2.0 isn't exactly a word, but it's in there..
 
I completely agree with the OP! I regularly get frustrated with people who are useless at spelling. I added someone on facebook simpy because it was entertaining how terribly she spoke. Stuff such as 'Hai babi gurl xxxx00x0x0x0'. Its cheesy but she actually spoke like that.
 
kylew said:
The way you speak, yes, but it's not how it should be written. Would've can sound exactly the same as "would have", the importance is how it's written, not how it's said. According to your logic, there's absolutely nothing wrong with people getting "they're", "there", "their", "your", "you're", "were", "ware", "where" and "wear" wrong, because you can't tell the difference just by listening to them (with the exception of "where" for some).
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If I was English then yes, how it is said and written would be important. As am not, it does not really hold that much importance to me. As for the "there s" "your s" "where s" why not just have the one spelling and derive the meaning from the context in which it is written, the way we do with how it is spoken? Maybe it is time to restandardizes the English language?

dmpoole said:
Speaking it is one thing but spelling it is another.
Would you actually write 'would have' in a sentence?
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Yes I would depending on what I was writing, a quick scribble on pen & paper no problem. Something that is up for peer pressure that I care about, no I would not.
 
Wow, forgot all about this thread, even that I posted in it :o

Deadbeat said:
Pretty much says it all, really - thanks for the contribution, kgi :p

On a more serious note, thanks for the contribution, jumpy. Interesting read, exemplarised by close correllation with my own views :). Slight whiff of elitism, but I'm the last person entitled to criticise over that, and obviously written communication is one of the most restrictive forms in terms of relaying information so I could easily be mistaken.
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Np Deadbeat, I think I alluded to the fact that I sometimes incorrectly let first impressions stick or make unfounded generalisations based on a majority of experience; I've put my foot in it at least once in the past, so these days I generally keep my thoughts to myself on the off chance I'm wrong. :p (or at least until I'm proved correct haha)

But you do touch on one of the reasons english can be so expressive - for what is lacking in face to face communication, and all that we take for granted with that, can be substituted to a degree through writing. It's often easier to see what is between the lines when it concerns someone you are familiar with in the first place, so you have some reference to the personality or sense of humour - how they think is often how they write/speak. With such limitless possibilities for concise meaning and the deliberate misdirection of the author (sarcasm or wit for instance) there's much that can be gained or lost.
Why do you think solicitors are such dour people? Have you read a legal document? Urgh, imagine having to do that all day long, writing and interpreting legal documents so they are incontrovertible... the result is a paper that is almost impossible to read normally :D
 
Orcish-Horde said:
Yes I would depending on what I was writing, a quick scribble on pen & paper no problem. Something that is up for peer pressure that I care about, no I would not.
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The problem is that people often don't know it's wrong, so given your example of something that is reviewed by your peers, you would write "could have" if you thought it was correct. If you know it's wrong, why bother in the first place though? The "formal/informal" excuse people tend to use is rubbish I think.
 
Well I'm setting one of my own up but here goes:

I got a text off one of my daughters saying "it would have only been £15 but I could have done with it" :eek:
She's just come in from work, I've shown her this thread, shown her the text and she's confused.
She hasn't got the slightest clue what she's done wrong and as far as her education is concerned she was never told any different because she's always wrote like that.
Now you may think she is some street corner chav but she got 14 GCSE's and 3 Distinctions at College plus a place at Stafford Uni this September.
 
dmpoole said:
Well I'm setting one of my own up but here goes:

I got a text off one of my daughters saying "it would have only been £15 but I could have done with it" :eek:
She's just come in from work, I've shown her this thread, shown her the text and she's confused.
She hasn't got the slightest clue what she's done wrong and as far as her education is concerned she was never told any different because she's always written like that.
Now you may think she is some street corner chav but she got 14 GCSE's and 3 Distinctions at College plus a place at Stafford Uni this September.
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wrote - simple past tense
has written - present perfect

Couldn't help myself! :p

Otherwise, I completely agree with your sentiment. I have previously asked a friend who is a teacher if she corrected spelling/grammar mistakes and her answer was that she apparently wasn't supposed to. I find that very sad indeed. In addition to that, I have a few other friend teachers who are equally prone to using "of" instead of "have". :(

I used to correct people on here but all I got was abuse so I've given up. I also used to correct the staff in Marketing for our company once they had published articles on the website and so on. How they let material go out there for advertising, bids, etc with so many English mistakes, I have no idea!
 
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