"Of" and "have"

[Phil H]

People speak as they HEAR - and "of" for "have" has been colloquial English (in the UK) for as long as I can recall.

Similar is "nuffink" for "nothing".

I don't know how someone who does not ennunciate clearly or pronounce words properly CAN learn to spell, since the sound he/she hears, and how it is spelled must seem out of kilter!

Language changes. Americans seem to use the phrase "status quo" as in "all is status quo" to mean all is OK or alright/as it should be.

Its proper use is, as I understand it: as it was - the position beforehand. But then, UK and America are two countries separated by a single language, are they not?

Phil

[RivkahChaya]

People have been doing that in the US for decades, and it makes me nuts. So does "taken for granite," and pluralising any word ending in -s by adding an "i" to the end. Octopi, feti, penii (for penis). I even saw walri once, but I think that was a joke.

"Between you and I" also makes me nuts. Any misuse of a nominative pronoun as the object of a preposition bugs me, but "between you and I" was a recurring line in a popular song once.

Don't get me started on "literally." Or misuse of "Begs the question."

[Stewart P Evans]

Bad English

It's just bad English of course, it should be 'have' in these examples. The proliferation of bad grammar and English seems to be increasing.

[Wickerman]

Yes, this idiosyncrasy has been noticed, though I have not taken note if this is a British phenomena or Americanism

[johns]

Hi all.

I noticed a few months ago, but I'm not sure how long it's been going on, that a lot of people of various internet websites and forums across a wide range of interests are getting the words "of" and "have" confused.

Examples...

They will write, "I could of told you that" or "I would of gone down the shop but it was raining" and so on and so forth.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it a recent thing or has it been going on for a while? Or have I misunderstood English for the past few decades?