“Ain’t” is okay, but I only use it in quotes, that is, when quoting a character. Formal writing should not include slang, unless quoting.
But this is not formal writing, so “ain’t” is acceptable. It’s not improper word use like “loose” for “lose”, or “you’re” when “your” is correct based on context. It’s like writing “gonna” instead of “going to”. Or “y’all”, instead of “all of you”, because we don’t have a plural pronoun for “you”.
Ain’t has been around since 1749, with an’t and in’t preceding it. It seems to have always been associated with the common people, and familiar/colloquial talk. Dickens used it a lot for that reason.
Aren’t to an’t makes perfect sense among people who don’t pronounce their rs like certain Brits (non-rhotic).
And isn’t to in’t, and haven’t/hasn’t to hasn’t are certainly no more difficult elisions to understand than Worcestershire or Cholmondly, although those have kept their spelling because they’re names.
…“aren’t”. What’s “ain’t” a contraction of, exactly?
I agree with the sentiment though.
“Ain’t” is okay, but I only use it in quotes, that is, when quoting a character. Formal writing should not include slang, unless quoting.
But this is not formal writing, so “ain’t” is acceptable. It’s not improper word use like “loose” for “lose”, or “you’re” when “your” is correct based on context. It’s like writing “gonna” instead of “going to”. Or “y’all”, instead of “all of you”, because we don’t have a plural pronoun for “you”.
Ain’t has been around since 1749, with an’t and in’t preceding it. It seems to have always been associated with the common people, and familiar/colloquial talk. Dickens used it a lot for that reason.
Aren’t to an’t makes perfect sense among people who don’t pronounce their rs like certain Brits (non-rhotic).
And isn’t to in’t, and haven’t/hasn’t to hasn’t are certainly no more difficult elisions to understand than Worcestershire or Cholmondly, although those have kept their spelling because they’re names.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't
AI not. Ain’t.
Snicker. :)
In fairness they never said they ain’t stupid, they want to know if who they’re messaging isn’t stupid.
Ain’t is just a shifted dialectal pronunciation of aren’t
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ain't
Also relevant to the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster’s_Third_New_International_Dictionary#Treatment_of_the_contraction_'Ain’t’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't