If there is one thing in the last several years that has proven to me that people would rather type phonetically rather than use a dictionary, it’s Facebook. One of the most common phonetic spellings I’ve seen is the phrase “should of”.
Or, for that matter, “could of”, “would of”, etc.
The trick to remembering the proper form of this phrase is to remember that it’s actually a contraction of “should have”:
- I should have washed my hands after cutting those hot peppers.
- I should’ve washed my hands after cutting those hot peppers.
When you think about it, “should of” doesn’t even make sense.
