"of" = "have"

[Jonathan Lighter]

It proves impossible to search the archives efficiently for "of," so I apologize if the following adds nothing to the discussion.

  1914 Ring Lardner "Horseshoes" (short story) in _Haircut and Other Stories_ 145 :It would of been a pipe for me to of made good with any of 'em.

  Lardner's story originally appeared in the _Saturday Evening Post_ (Aug. 15, 1914), pp. 8-10, 44-46.

  (Now I see that OED has this verbal "of" from a hundred years earlier. Jeez.)

  JL


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