After reading plenty of stories on the site, I have found that there is an astounding idiom based grammatical malpractice due to the nature of our very language. It's not what I would consider very serious, but it has shown up enough to warrant a posting.
When speaking, we commonly use an idiom, or a word/phrase that means something totally different than the actual definition or use of the word. This happens all over the world as you would imagine and likely result in similar sentiments in grammatical specialists.

On to the grammatical bits:

"Of" is a preposition, or a word that introduces something else in a sentence, whether it is a smell, a sense or even a thought. It is very good at its job and we would not be able to even describe certain things in our language. This very hard working word is being worked far harder than it has any right to be.

Examples of previously mentioned Idioms (grammatically incorrect):

"I would of."
"It couldn't of."
"That would of happened."

Examples of examples (grammatically correct):

"I would have." (This implies that it is a response to a previous statement)
""It couldn't have [done that]." (This implies a mistake or accident has happened.)
"That would have happened." (This implies... exactly what it implies.)

(The parenthetical annotations are for non-native English speakers who may or may not need them.)

Now, you're probably thinking I use those phrases everyday. How could they be grammatically wrong? You speak them in a social setting where everyone likely knows you and can understand or translate "of" into the correct meaning in that setting. When writing stories, "of" will have a very hard time working both its job and the second job you give it as a place holder for the correct word. You also must remember that this site is visited often by non-native English speakers and have no understanding of our idioms, leading to confusion and frustration.
I thought that this would be both helpful and informative for anyone who wishes to use this information to better their writing and learn a little bit more about how the English language works. I thank you for your time and wish you the best in your ventures my friends.

2011947 Needs more FelixDawn

2011955
It's just something that I found that warrants a little informational public announcement. I'm not raging at it or anything like that. I'm posting for those who wish to become better writers and those who are non-native speakers/writers.
But, what do you think about it overall? Informative and helpful at the least?

2011947 not that you aren't pointing out a real mistake, but:

What happens is people rush the pronunciation of "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

Becomes "I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

Which sounds exactly like "I would of gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

Ergo, the confusion. Still, as writers, we really need to stop that.

Quick question: is it correct to say "I kind of agree with you, but..." Because I use that idiom in comments a lot.

2011967
It's perfectly alright to agree and still use "of" in said agreement. Agreeing is a thought, introduced by "of." Like I said, it's just a simple grammatical thing and it can lead to a lot of confusion. (See how it does such a good job? It doesn't even ask for a raise. Such a nice word.)

2011967
Also, you're right about that observation. The contraction sounds very close to "of," so it makes sense that it would be replaced by an improper word in the written language.

2011947
Actually, I think that the mistake people make is that, when they're speaking, they're saying "could've," without realizing it. Most of us pronounce that "could of," because "v" and "f" are actually very similar sounds in English. To that end, "could of" isn't actually an idiom at all, it's people phonetically misspelling a word, it just happens to be a common misspelling.

More confusion probably comes from "kind of," which is an idiom that comes from dropping "some" or "a" from in front of it (that is, "I'm kind of happy" doesn't actually make sense, since kind means "variety" so you're saying "I'm variety of happy." But it's a common enough way of saying "I'm some kind of happy" that it's accepted as a way of speaking.)

You're totally right. I just was kind of interested in the similarity and difference there.

2011976 Thanks!

2012000
"Of" is a preposition for thoughts, feelings and senses. It's for the abstract aspects of our thought and how we tie it into our language.

2012003
Not a problem. Just remember that if it is not a thought, feeling, or sense, "of" doesn't belong there

2012000
Also, I do believe your meaning about "kind" or other adjectives in conjunction with "of." They are variable and descriptive words that enhance the thought, feeling or sense. "Of" introduces the modifying adjective to the verb, creating the full description. It adds variance and severity to what is being described.

2011960 Your indentation is annoying

2012268
I apologize. I just recently got done writing a new chapter for my story and the habit is still there for when I hit the enter key.

2011947
Yo, you need to tag this correctly. "Guest Speaker" if you're not a professor and either "pro-tip or sub-lecture after that, then the title. Keeps things organized.

2012303
Will do and sorry about that. I must have missed that.

2012000
Agreed. This is a misspelling rather than an idiom. "_'ve" not "of."

You could probably toss in with this phrases like "could care less" (very common but completely nonsensical compared to "could not care less"), "intensive purposes" (where people mean "intents and purposes" and "for not" (where people mean "for naught"). In fact here's a big list of them.