woulda, coulda, shoulda
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Expresses regret for past actions or decisions not taken
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Thể hiện sự hối hận về hành động hoặc quyết định trong quá khứ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: contractions of would have, could have, should have
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I'm stuck in this job, woulda, coulda, shoulda started my own business
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “woulda, coulda, shoulda” mean?
Expresses regret for past actions or decisions not taken Literally: contractions of would have, could have, should have
Is “woulda, coulda, shoulda” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.