For linguists: "of" = "have" ?!

[Cutty]

So, me not being a native english speaker I might miss out on some subtleties of the language. What I came across in the last few days every so often was, especially in posts of american members of various message boards, the tendency to employ the word "of" instead of a more fitting (at least according to my better judgement) "have"...

...

Could anyone, preferably a native speaker with a lignuistic background, explain to me what great cosmic plan is behind all this?

Thanks from a puzzled mind,

Cuttythulhu

[Hobbes]

My guess would be it's just slang. Then again, I'm not a native english speaker, either ;)

Edit: Found this

[SuvieD]

I am not sure but I think it is something more commonly said in the south of the US more than anywhere else. It isn't exactly slang.

For example in Texas you don't ask for Mountain Dew or Rootbeer. You ask for a Coke. They will then ask you what kind of Coke you want and you would say a Mountain Dew Coke. Texans have replaced the word soda with the word Coke. Many people do this with products they are familiar with. Bandages are often referred to as Band-Aids after the popular brand, Kleenex = facial tissue, LEGOs = any plastic building block, and so on. It happens with common words such as of and have. To most people it makes no sense but for some it is an acceptable replacement.

One odd tidbit, In Texas and surrounding areas the say Coke, in most of the US they say soda, but in the north where I am from we say pop. Some have said it is a reference to a old popular brand of soda that either had the word pop in it's name or when opened it made a *pop* sound.

Even odder is that down in the south people tend to slur there words. Instead of "Did you eat yet?" it comes out as "Geet yet?". They also use words like Ya'll which is for you all, or properly all of you.

The US has many slang words and local sayings too. The differ generally by location. Northern English speakers tend to speak faster and more properly with somewhat strong northern European accents. Southern English speakers speak slower and are more influenced by Spanish and French. Of course the country is wide so different areas don't speak in the same way. New England are is different from the midwest and people in California speak different than those in Florida.

I was writing this too quickly before. There are many errors in this. :()

Edited January 16, 2006 by SuvieD

[LegoLover]

I'm from the south(Goegia, home of Coke) and we dont slur that much and y'all is only somewhat common and also about the coke thing we do say coke sometimes soda for a majority of soft drinks

about the of=have its just how some people talk

[Supreme Oompa Loompa]

Around here in Florida our "Slang" is just a bunch of racial slurs and swears

So that isn't really Slang though...XP

But yeah...a lot of people I've met from Alabama/Mississippi I've found that they are utter IDIOTS when it comes to proper enunciation and talk-grammar

[Darkie]

Northern English speakers tend to speak faster and more properly with somewhat strong northern European accents.

Well. This explains why I've been asked if I'm British before. A couple times, actually.

Might also explain why I'm a stickler for proper writing.

[optimus-convoy]

I see it like this,

Something like "could have" is shortened to "could've".

"could've" sounds the same as "could of".

So I guess when some people mean to write "could've" they just write "could of" because they sound the same.

[Starwars4J]

I see it like this,

Something like "could have" is shortened to "could've".

"could've" sounds the same as "could of".

So I guess when some people mean to write "could've" they just write "could of" because they sound the same.

That's what I've seen around here. People hear something, but they hear it wrong, and then use it wrong. Your example with "could've" is dead-on.