Re: USAGE: would've verses would of

In a message dated 10/23/01 4:09:39 AM, zsau@YAHOO.COM.AU writes:

<< So what, exactly, is the status of 'would of' and its friends? Would it
normally be considered right or wrong? and why? >>

    You know what I was thinking?  Maybe somebody misinterpreted it.  We have
phrases such as "I talk of dreams" and "I've not heard of that" and "I'm
enamored of it" and "I want of nothing", which (except for the second one)
sound rather antiquated.  So maybe "would have", being pronouncd [wUd@v], of
course, got misinterpreted as a similar type of verb + genitive concept,
where "would" becomes a sort of action word meaning "to do", vaguely, and the
phrase "I would of talked to you" is interpreted as "I do GEN. action".  What
do you think?

-David