On 12/06/2015 10:37 PM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
Yea, I'm fine with "ain't" being considered an actual word. Years ago, I
used to hear a lot of "'Ain't' isn't a real word", but meh, it's used as
a word, even the people who don't like it still know full-well exactly
what it means, so...I ain't got a big problem with it :)
But there was one particular argument in favor of "ain't" that I never
liked: "It's a contraction for 'are not'."
Well, no, it isn't a contraction for "are not" (maybe it originally was,
I dunno). Because "I ain't going" vs "I are not going." So no, it may be
a word, but it ain't a contraction for "are not".
It is a contraction of "are not" because it originates from a
time/dialect where the verb to-be was conjugated differently than
today's English. Many of the irregularities of to-be are ignored in
international English which gives rise to dialects among ESL speakers
that sound wrong but endearing (at least to my ears).
A...
