of

I’m not a grammar Nazi.  I accept that some people have lazy habits when it comes to typing and speaking and I know that sometimes my use of the written or spoken word is far from perfect.

But there is one seemingly growing grammatical faux pas that I simply cannot stand.  And that is the use of the word “of” instead of “have”.  For instance, seeing or hearing the phrase “I could of done that” instead of “I could have done that” really makes me angry.  Well not angry, that would be too strong a reaction, but you know what I mean.

You wouldn’t use the phrase “could I of the green ones please” or “of you got the time” would you?  So why say something like “you should of seen…”.

A couple have weeks ago (sorry, couldn’t resist) I wrote about auto correct ruining my ability to spell or compose a sentence correctly.  But substituting an incorrect word goes further than that I think.  Is it down to laziness?  Or perhaps it’s declining educational standards?  Judging by the number of times I also see the incorrect use of there, their and they’re my guess is it’s the latter.

And don’t get me started on it’s and its.

Sorry.  Rant over.