people do it because subconsciously they want symmetry with "on purpose." It was a while ago but I read a thing about how "on accident" is statistically more common when used in close proximity to "on purpose"
Yes! Should of, could of, would of. And it doesn't even make any sense, yet they say it anyway. Do they not even stop for one second to think about what they are saying/writing???
I started hearing it from my grad students when we moved from NYC to the Midwest (2010) — so I assumed it was a regional thing, though I've come to realize it's a generational thing. But ARGH.
When I was growing up (many, many years ago) that was the way children said it before they learned the more commonly accepted way. I'm fine with language evolving, but maybe we could do something about "based off of" instead of the simpler "based on"?
My kids do this, but because they’re bilingual (french/english) I assumed it was a literal translation of a French expression. (I’d still correct them!) Wasn’t aware it was more widespread.
I can vaguely recall it actually being taught as "on accident" as being the 'correct' version back when I was in primary school. Some kids parent threw an absolute tantrum and got us locked down over the whole thing, it was kinda silly in hindsight.
