woulda
Casual past intention
Woulda is an informal spelling of "would have" or "would've," representing casual pronunciation: I woulda called, but my phone died.
It appears alongside coulda and shoulda, often in the dismissive phrase coulda, woulda, shoulda—acknowledging that speculation about alternatives is pointless.
Informal past potential
- shouldaOught to have, casually
- hindsightRecognition after the fact
- missedFailed to reach
- opportunityFavorable circumstance for advancement
mistake · remorse · wishful · thinking · second-guessing · what-if · blown · chance
Casual "will" contraction
- wannaDesire to, casually
- couldaInformal past potential
- shouldaOught to have, casually
- gottaColloquial for must
kinda · sorta · oughta · hafta · dunno · lemme · gimme · ain't
Defense of location
- justificationReason proving rightness
- rationalizationInventing acceptable motives afterward
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- blameAssign responsibility for wrongdoing
cop-out · defense · explanation · pretext · backpedaling · shifting · denial · hindsight
coulda
Informal past potential
opportunity · mistake · remorse · wishful · thinking · second-guessing · what-if · blown · chance · squandered
gonna
Casual "will" contraction
gotta · kinda · sorta · oughta · hafta · dunno · lemme · gimme · ain't · y'all
alibi
Defense of location
- justificationReason proving rightness
- rationalizationInventing acceptable motives afterward
- deflectionChange in trajectory
blame · cop-out · defense · explanation · pretext · backpedaling · shifting · denial · hindsight · dodging
imagined
Formed in the mind
assumed · thought · believed · figured · planned · intended · meant · anticipated · projected · envisioned
- Informal Spellingsgonna, wanna, gotta, oughta, shoulda
- guiltguilty, guilt trip, guilty conscience, remorseful, contrition
- slangslang, jargon, lingo, argot, cant
wouldawould have
Contrary-to-fact auxiliary
would've · proper English · written English · Queen's English · might have
- would haveContrary-to-fact auxiliary
- would likePolite expression of wanting
- would ratherExpresses a preference
- I wouldConditional agreement phrase
- would you mindCourteous inquiry preamble
- wouldn't be caught deadReject something completely