So silly question, but is there any valid use of “could’ve of” or “should’ve of”?
I can’t seem to come up with any (granted, I’m definitely low on caffeine this morning).
I do agree that people are misusing “could of” and “should of” as “could’ve” and “should’ve”, but I can’t help wonder if there are cases of “could’ve of” or “should’ve of” (as it just sounds flat out weird!)
The great thing about the common man (and woman!) is that he/she/it/they will always find a way to use even the most inane grammatical constructions—and what’s more, popularize them. Personally, though, I can’t.
I could’ve, of course, ignored your question.
I can’t think of any other use, and I’m used to weird tenses. My grandparents spoke a broad Scots dialect, and one of my Grannie’s favourite tenses was “used to could” - as in “I used to could dae that…”
Och aye, lassie!
Yeah, but the punctuation makes that easier to read and makes it sound of a more legitimate usage.
Good then it isn’t just my lack of caffeine this morning 
OK, so I cheated.
I’m pretty sure I have seen examples of that, or its very close relatives, but then again, I read an awful lot of stuff from those for whom English is very much a second language.
Heh … those guys often observe much better grammar than native speakers. 
For those who have been taught English over a period of time, and have had the opportunity to practice in an English speaking setting, I would agree. Not all of those I come into contact with, have had quite that experience.
Googled:
Your Money: The Would’ve, Should’ve and Could’ve of Taxing 529 College Savings Plans
Talk about screwing up a perfectly good slang saying… should be “Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda”
@mawburn
Do you use “you all” even when addressing a single individual?
Years ago some friends and I were in east Texas for a few months and they found it odd.
(as well as “fixing to”)
I don’t recall my picking up any “southern” but I did acquire a bit of a Cajun accent.
We do. Almost every name has its own gender and most of the adjectives have a male and female version because their gender needs to match the gender of the name they describe.
We do have a third, neutral gender, it is very rarely used and only with abstract things like when you use “impossible”, “good” or “bad” as names (the impossible, the bad, the good…)
But in those cases that you don’t know which gender you need to use, we use the male form of the word.
Example:
If you go to your locak bank branch and say “Necesito saber el nombre del director de la sucursal” (I need to know the name of the branch manager)
Because you don’t know the gender, you use the male form (director) instead of the female version (directora)
I don’t usually… I’ve lived a lot of places so I don’t really have a regional accent. What little I had when I was younger I got teased for as a kid when I moved different places, so I lost most of it.
My wife does. It’s everyday slang. It’s “y’all” not “you all”. “Fixin to” is another one. As in: “I’m fixin to go grab lunch”.
edit:
Actually, I can’t think of anyone using y’all to address a single individual. It’s mostly for groups. I’m not saying they don’t, but I just can’t recall hearing it. And the more I think about it, I think I do actually use it occasionally.
Regional dialects can be interesting. And many have become “stereotypes”.
Our Texas friends were surprised that we didn’t say “you’se guys” or “cah” - Boston - because they didn’t realize that Western Mass is more in tune with Connecticut (the Pioneer Valley) than the east shore.
Hmmmm, I wonder if in matriarchal societies the “default” “they” would be “she”
I haven’t lived below the mason-dixon line since I was 8 or 9, and y’all is still in my lexicon - it’s definitely for a group, not an individual.
Hmmm. He must have been asking my friend as the “spokesperson” for the 3 of us northerners and my friend thought he was asking for only his opinion.
Actually, I have seen it written. It was in an email response from a software company to whom I had complained.
This is one of those that irritates me immensely. The only incorrect grammar that bothers me more is “irregardless”.
I have a coworker in one job - the ‘Administrative Assistant’ who was responsible for most of the correspondence in the group - who frequently made numerous ‘faux pas’ in her writing. One of the most common was writing ‘per say’ when she meant per se. This falls in the same category as - quite common in America - ect. to abbreviate ‘et cetera’ (which itself is quite often mispronounced as ‘ek-setter-ah’)!
This is one of those ‘regional’ differences.
I grew up outside Philadelphia where the plural of “You” is “Youse” and I refer to any group as “You Guys” (regardless of the gender mix) generically.
Of course, in Philly we
As it is in Glasgow (Scotland). Mostly in combination - “Are youse guys gonnae go …?” Similar construction applies to possessive pronouns. “Is that yours?” “Naw - mines is red.”