
I don't mind for free but could of is actually what they say in speech and I don’t know the thought process, if any, behind that. Maybe we have to call it dialect, in which case the spelling might be kinda, sorta, sort of correct"Could of"s and "for free"s?
Now that’s a creative use of a double quote mark — I guess you intend the second one to stand in for the missing l ?You''l have to wait

Though I gave him a pass after I read it as that’s a difficult construction anyway and I’m not sure how one could do much better.
Edit. I think he should’ve just not made them plurals. Thus: … infected with could of and for free.
This subject is a favourite of mine.
One I don't like to hear is 'off of'. I'd never heard it until I moved down here.
I know this is what Americans say but when I heard it a few times when I was over there I couldn't make sense of it. We say "I couldn't care less" It makes sense. They say "I could care less" which sounds to me as though they hadn't totally given up on whatever it was they were referring to.
Wrong word. I sometimes worked alongside a plant technician who would look at the instrument panel and upon seeing one registering an unusual reading would say ..."There's something highly salubrious here"
I'm sure no-one will be able to give an answer to this one. Whoever thought that saying.."can you tell which is which or "You can tell he's bluffing" and re twins. "How can you tell them apart ?" Tell ? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Why do we say Thunder and lightning in that order when thunder, as we know, is a consequence of lightning and should come first.
I can't wait. :banghead: You hear it all the time. " When are you going to America ?" "Next Saturday and I can't wait". My response ? You'll have to as the flight doesn't take off until next Saturday.
Let's get sentimental Lol. "My mum and dad are coming over from Germany at the weekend and I can't wait to see them"You''l have to wait as they won't be here until the weekend and it's only Wednesday.
I despair when I hear some football pundits speaking. The commentators are fine, though.
"He should of went round him" "The ball has came in from the left" "If he (the goalkeeper ) had came out sooner he'd have stopped that goal"
Five Live's presenter, Colin Murray, uses this 'came' a lot. and once said "He could have gone to Stoke but he has went to West Brom"
A bit different but you've got to love John Motson aka Motty. Not the grammar but just what he said.
For starters. "For those of you watching in black and white Spurs are in the all- yellow. strip" I also heard of someone commentating on a snooker game say something similar re the colour of the balls.
I still recall hearing this one. He was commentating on a Spurs game..again. Spurs had a German player..a very good one..called Stefan Fruend and pronounced Froint as in 'oint-ment'. Motty always called him Frunt and in one piece of commentary he said. "Frunt to Anderton to Ginola and back to Frunt "
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You are not entirely wrong but when I first used it for an email address Sphex was unavailable and thus it’s sphexx and sometimes sphexxx etc if I’m asked for a username so it’s no longer a Genus but maybe a SpecificI agree with sphexx (although if it was my name I would of (sic) used a capital S
could of is actually what they say in speech
Sorry but I disagree, can‘t say it’s everyone but I definitely hear the “o” on TV and so onNot quite. "Could of" is what you hear when someone says "Could've" correctly.
People hear "could've" as "could of" so thats how they pronounce it so Nod is in fact correct.Sorry but I disagree, can‘t say it’s everyone but I definitely hear the “o” on TV and so on.
People hear 'could of' because the speaker is illiterate or lazy and has no idea that the pronunciation is nearer 'could have' not 'could of'; the pronouncer would probably also write 'could of'.People hear "could've" as "could of" so thats how they pronounce it so Nod is in fact correct.
In a way … but not reallyPeople hear "could've" as "could of" so thats how they pronounce it so Nod is in fact correct.

I might add it is hard work being a Grammar Nazi since one has to check one's own use of apostrophes all the time or risk being pulled up by people of a similar bent.
Since we are talking about Americanisms, one I really hate is 'gotten'. However, language is a thing alive and so long as there are plausible reasons for a change then I suppose one has to let it go. When I was in Boston in the eighties, I was surprised to hear the use of behove or behooves which is very quaint and, I presume, from the 1800s or so.
And since I'm on a bit of a rant: People who start every spoken sentence with 'So'.
For example.
"Where have you been today?"
"So I stayed at home until this afternoon."
Substitute 'therefore' for 'so' and it is possible to see how incorrect it is (he says, ending on a preposition).
And to continue:
'Different to' instead of 'different from'. Arrgh!
Indeed and the bloody computer spillchucker and autoincomplete (don’t use the grammar chucker) works against one all the time.I might add it is hard work being a Grammar Nazi since one has to check one's own use of apostrophes all the time or risk being pulled up by people of a similar bent.
Since we are talking about Americanisms, one I really hate is 'gotten'. However, language is a thing alive and so long as there are plausible reasons for a change then I suppose one has to let it go. When I was in Boston in the eighties, I was surprised to hear the use of behove or behooves which is very quaint and, I presume, from the 1800s or so.
And since I'm on a bit of a rant: People who start every spoken sentence with 'So'.
For example.
"Where have you been today?"
"So I stayed at home until this afternoon."
Substitute 'therefore' for 'so' and it is possible to see how incorrect it is (he says, ending on a preposition).
And to continue:
'Different to' instead of 'different from'. Arrgh!
Indeed and the bloody computer spillchucker and autoincomplete (don’t use the grammar chucker) works against one all the time.
I find I use So … a fair bit, I always thought I got it from the movies (Americanism alert!) as in Zo, for you Tommy ze war is ofer.
Quite a few US versions are the English they/we took there but we have diverged. I often think (haven’t checked) that gotten is one of those.
I’m sure you really know that not ending with a preposition is a false rule and is something up with which we should not put.
But 'Different to' instead of 'different from' which nearly everyone does is definitely Arrgh and seems so illogical to me ;(.
Having just had a trawl through the web, gotten is definitely older than USA but the clincher for me is when I came across reference to ill-gotten gains which I think we would all accept as English!Since we are talking about Americanisms, one I really hate is 'gotten'.
That annoy's the hell (outta* me) out of me,And since I'm on a bit of a rant: People who start every spoken sentence with 'So'.
I think you may be right but dammit, one has to try. Adding to your harass, I might add the now common bugbear of taking a noun and putting 'ized' or 'ised' after, as in hospitalised, burglarised; how long before people are no longer hydrated but waterised? Is there no end?I think we're in a minority on here bothering about all this, Martin![]()
Love itIndeed and the bloody computer spillchucker and autoincomplete (don’t use the grammar chucker) works against one all the time.
I find I use So … a fair bit, I always thought I got it from the movies (Americanism alert!) as in Zo, for you Tommy ze war is ofer.
Quite a few US versions are the English they/we took there but we have diverged. I often think (haven’t checked) that gotten is one of those.
I’m sure you really know that not ending with a preposition is a false rule and is something up with which we should not put.![]()
One just has to change 'different' to 'differs' and it all makes sense as one wouldn't say 'differs to'.But 'Different to' instead of 'different from' which nearly everyone does is definitely Arrgh and seems so illogical to me ;(.
Merely listening to the way people speak and seeing how they write is persecution enough.A minority like us three should stick together, we could be persecuted![]()
I don’t want to prolong this too much but the usual use of So at the start of a sentence seems to me to have a different feel than therefore, a word I use quite a lot. Isn't So usually more So… ?, 'So' can be replaced by 'therefore'
I might add it is hard work being a Grammar Nazi since one has to check one's own use of apostrophes all the time or risk being pulled up by people of a similar bent.
Since we are talking about Americanisms, one I really hate is 'gotten'. However, language is a thing alive and so long as there are plausible reasons for a change then I suppose one has to let it go. When I was in Boston in the eighties, I was surprised to hear the use of behove or behooves which is very quaint and, I presume, from the 1800s or so.
And since I'm on a bit of a rant: People who start every spoken sentence with 'So'.
For example.
"Where have you been today?"
"So I stayed at home until this afternoon."
Substitute 'therefore' for 'so' and it is possible to see how incorrect it is (he says, ending on a preposition).
And to continue:
'Different to' instead of 'different from'. Arrgh!
They haven’t heard of either round here, it’s always ‘t’backend’Fall' was also quite common in England, although 'autumn' is an older word, and I prefer it.
.... That's the key to it (as I have highlit in bold) - Language constantly continues to evolve through time according to its usage. So that what may be termed as colloquial or slang now eventually becomes adopted into both the spoken and written English. Generally the spoken tends to lead the way and the written follows.I think 'gotten' is just another example of how English was spoken and written during the period when the American colonies were founded. 'Fall' was also quite common in England, although 'autumn' is an older word, and I prefer it.
Yes, and I don’t mind most changes and I like the archaic forms, just as well as thee and tha’ are still common round here.... That's the key to it (as I have highlit in bold) - Language constantly continues to evolve through time according to its usage. So that what may be termed as colloquial or slang now eventually becomes adopted into both the spoken and written English. Generally the spoken tends to lead the way and the written follows.
Different words which not that long ago were unacceptable, such as "f***", then become widely acceptable - The F-word on TV broadcast programmes for example. And other words which were totally acceptable, such as "nigger", become unacceptable in spoken language. But note that TP doesn't yet accept the F-word written in full!
Language is changing all the time and is driven by what is adopted to be spoken and it doesn't matter who says it. This is sooo cool, doncha think?
Cor blimey mate, strike a light, apples and pears me ol' china [jumps sideways into the air and clicks heels]. My, my, where's me chimney sweep brushes Mary Poppins? Me 'ol bam-boo, me ol' bam-boo, you'd better never bovver with me ol' bam-boo.We all think people should talk like what we do.![]()
7 pages, my best ever thread.![]()
Yes & no. As I’ve probably said in this thread controversial postings get higher rating on Facebook and maybe similarly if people hate FB a post about it here may get a lot of attentionOf course! This is what happens when you talk about Facebook. Don't tell anyone here but FB is very popular.
.... Don't take my comments too literally, nor too seriously < It then misses my point.Yes & no. As I’ve probably said in this thread controversial postings get higher rating on Facebook and maybe similarly if people hate FB a post about it here may get a lot of attention.

I am so stealing that

Of course! This is what happens when you talk about Facebook. Don't tell anyone here but FB is very popular.

I never realised it was such a thing.
I should of, sorry, should've researched it.
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No, no! I think we should have all congratulated you on reaching this personal 7-page milestone, great achievement, well done! Very remiss if me not to have said it before! You could have downloaded all your images, though it sounds like you didn’t need to.I stopped actively using Facebook a few years ago. I finally just deleted the account. I’d kept it because it was home to thousands of images I’d uploaded over the years. However I came to realise that I never go back and look at them. So adiós Facebook.
You could have downloaded all your images, though it sounds like you didn’t need to.