-a sfx
used to denote a colloq. or slangy pron. of:.
(a) have, e.g. coulda, musta, shoulda, woulda.
TAD Lex. (1993) 29: Passing by a bunch of big operators who have just joined the I Shoulda Club. | in Zwilling||
Dames Don’t Care (1960) 53: A pompadour that woulda made Marie Antoinette look like a big cheese. | ||
Neon Wilderness (1986) 44: You shoulda seen him when the coppers bust it [i.e. a fight] up. | ||
West Side Story I i: You shoulda done worse. | ||
Gone Fishin’ 183: Coulda bowled me over with a feather when I seen ’im haulin’ ’em in. | ||
Carlito’s Way 70: If it was up to me they coulda buried you. | ||
Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 115: I shoulda put Boy George between those two gender benders. | ||
(con. 1949) Big Blowdown (1999) 248: You had me dead to rights, right up on me. You coulda beat the hell out of me. | ||
Layer Cake 176: He woulda been after your little ring-piece if he was still around. |
(b) to, e.g. gonna, gotta, oughta, wanna.
🎵 How ’ya gonna keep them away from Broadway, / Jazzin’ around, / And paintin’ the town? | ‘How Ya Gonna Keep ’Em Down on the Farm?’||
Fighting Blood 64: I’m gonna slap you for a Chinese ash can and send you back to that slab in Jersey on a shutter! | ||
Brighton Rock (1943) 163: It oughta be on me [...] But I’m cleaned out. | ||
🎵 If someone say ‘for the duration’ Brother, I’m gonna blow my fuse. | ‘Reconversion Blues’||
Down These Mean Streets (1970) 200: I never figured on getting hooked all the way. I was only gonna play it for a Pepsi-Cola kick. | ||
Semi-Tough 167: [He] is gonna get himself ass-deep in so much young Scotch that this palatial suite of ours better be able to float. | ||
(con. early 1950s) L.A. Confidential 66: Some Bureau guys are gonna burn in this thing and you’re gonna have to work with friends of theirs. | ||
🌐 Clockin grips is cool... you oughta try it Josh, wuss. | homepage
In phrases
(US) phr. indicating regret for what might have happened/been done, but never was.
Studies in Linguistics Supp. 42: The perfect coulda shoulda woulda mighta. | ||
Forbes 141 116: Yet nearly all bettors think they ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’ come out ahead—if only. | ||
Frontline 11 93: ‘I should have kicked the extra point, but coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn't do it’. | ||
Not My father’s Footsteps [ebook] [We] need to move on—no looking back, no regrets about coulda, shoulda, woulda. | ||
? (Pronounced Que) [ebook] Coulda, shoulda, woulda dominated his thoughts. |