Here is the third in my very occasional series of ways people write that really bother me. Today we are focusing on misused phrases.
1) Should of (and could of, would of, etc.), or "Brother, can you help a verb?"
I mostly see this hideous abomination from the younger crowd. Apparently grammar is no longer a requirement in today's elementary schools, or they would have learned that "of" is NOT A VERB, DAMMIT! It's "have". As in "I have used a helping verb correctly." Only in this case, it's "I should have used a helping verb instead of a preposition."
2) for all intensive purposes, or "Don't be like Achilles, sulking in his tense"
What the heck do people think this actually means, anyway? Just try to make sense of it in context. Why do only the intense purposes matter? What if you have a bland purpose, does that negate this qualification? No. It's "for all INTENTS and PURPOSES"; in other words, it means "regardless of what was intended."
3) free reign or reign in, or "Don't reign on my parade"
Okay, the first one, while wrong, at least makes a tiny modicum of sense. But in both cases, the correct word is "rein", as in that thing you use to control a horse. Giving "free rein" means "to turn loose," to let the horse (or other being) go wherever it wants. And when you "rein in" someone, you are bringing them back under your control.