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From: phoogenb@liberty.uc.wlu.edu (Peter Hoogenboom)
Subject: Re: ain't (was Irregardless vs. Regardless...)
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Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 23:16:47 GMT
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Myles Paulson (xexrrain@wackydoo.DIALix.oz.au) wrote:
:  
: In article <3148D5F2.2A5@ntr.net>, "Joseph R. Bauer" (jrbauer@ntr.net) writes:
: >Actually, the word "ain't" is an English word. Unfortunately, most people 
: >misuse it as a contraction for "are not," when it is a contraction for "am 
: >not."
: >
: Ain't is a contraction for: 
: am not: "I ain't marching anymore" 
: are not: "They ain't your friends, boy"
: is not: "It ain't necessarily so" "2 out of 3 ain't bad"
: have not: "I ain't seen it" 
: has not: "He ain't got it"

Etymologically, "ain't" is a contraction of "am not."  It is its 
widespread misuse which has garnered it its substandard reputation.

: The function of the word was to provide a quick and consistent way
: of making an emphatic negative.

That may be its more recent function, but it does not explain its 
original derivation, which is as a contraction of "am not."

: 'has not'. Bob Dylan and others, who would never use the word in
: ordinary parlance, have it sprinkled everywhere in their songs.

Have you ever heard Bob Dylan speak?  Have you ever considered that a 
lyricist might include the word to give a colloquial flavor to a lyric, 
and not simply for scansion?  Other, more grammatical, contractions could 
give the same scansion.

Peter

--
Peter Hoogenboom                        phoogenb@wlu.edu
Department of Music, DuPont 208         hoogenboom.p@fs.sciences.wlu.edu
Washington and Lee University           phoogenboom@wesleyan.edu
Lexington, VA 24450                     (540) 463-8697
