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 Mon Aug 07, 2006 13:27 pm Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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Yes,
I saw people use this rare short form, especially on newspaper. However, I never use this form.
K
PS: If you read "U.S. News and World Report", you will see that. Each day, I read only a little before start working. |
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Van Khanh
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 14:14 pm Mayn't |
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Hi Tamara,
Mayn't is a bit quirky, in a way quite precious. I would only use it in a comical jocular way.
Alan
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Alan
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Yankee
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 17:15 pm Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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| I have used mayn't many times before, but when I do so, it's usually with an upper-class British accent and one pinky in the air. So, like Alan and Amy, I use it only when I'm joking. |
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Jamie (K)
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Tamara
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 22:23 pm But how about mightn't? :) |
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| Tamara wrote: | | Quote: | “Wait for you here, ma’am?” I asked.
“Yes, Yes. Don’t leave the station. I shall return by a later train. I don’t know when. It mayn’t be until quite late.” |
© The Plymouth Express
The phrase I quoted is "said" by the Honourable  Mrs Rupert Carrington. Pure American 
Yes, the "upper class" - of that ancient time. |
Ahhhh! Thank goodness! The mystery is solved! (But, don't forget, those "pure American words" were written by a Brit.)
| Tamara wrote: | By the way, the form mightn’t I’ve heard really – more than once or twice. And it was used not for joke.
Hmm… |
Yes, I had heard tell that mightn't is used in the UK. But mightn't is another contraction that I myself don't use and have never used. 
Amy
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nessie
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| Fri Aug 15, 2008 19:49 pm Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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To "hear tell" is folksy slang, and it just means, "I have heard people say that..."
"I hear tell you're fixing to leave town."
"So you're okay? I heard tell you were in an accident."
"I hear tell you're gunning for me, outlaw!"
You hear this expression a lot in the American south, and in cowboy movies. It's not used in formal English, and I don't think there's anything complicated about the syntax. The two words just stay right next to each other. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Fri Aug 15, 2008 20:08 pm Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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I think I would take "tell" in "heard tell" as an infinitive.
The word "hearsay" derives from a phrase "by hear say", which translates the Old French phrase "par ouïr dire" (i.e. "by" + two infinitives, "hear" and "say"); I would speculate that "hear tell" has the same structure. (Cf. also "entendre parler de", "to hear about", in modern French.)
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| Sun Aug 17, 2008 11:55 am Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: | To "hear tell" is folksy slang, and it just means, "I have heard people say that..."
"I hear tell you're fixing to leave town." |
=> What's the difference between the two versions 'to leave town' and 'to leave the town', Jamie? (I thought except in idioms, all singular countable nouns must be accompanied by an article)
| Jamie (K) wrote: | | You hear this expression a lot in the American south, and in cowboy movies. It's not used in formal English, and I don't think there's anything complicated about the syntax. The two words just stay right next to each other. |
I don't think it very complicated either, Jamie. I can understand what it means, but I just found the syntax a bit strange as I had never seen it
| Quote: | I think I would take "tell" in "heard tell" as an infinitive.
The word "hearsay" derives from a phrase "by hear say", which translates the Old French phrase "par ouïr dire" (i.e. "by" + two infinitives, "hear" and "say"); I would speculate that "hear tell" has the same structure. (Cf. also "entendre parler de", "to hear about", in modern French.) |
Hi MrP
That's why I find the syntax strange: 2 verbs next to each other without any link (and I also guessed it's not used in formal English) By the way, is 'hear say' popular in British English, MrP?
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nessie
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| Sun Aug 17, 2008 13:22 pm Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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| nessie wrote: | | Jamie (K) wrote: | To "hear tell" is folksy slang, and it just means, "I have heard people say that..."
"I hear tell you're fixing to leave town." |
=> What's the difference between the two versions 'to leave town' and 'to leave the town', Jamie? (I thought except in idioms, all singular countable nouns must be accompanied by an article). |
The main difference is that we say "leave town" but we don't say "leave the town".
"Leave town" is a fixed expression, so you need to swallow it whole.
"Hearsay" (one word) is common in the formal English of all English-speaking countries. It just means rumors or something someone has heard someone else say. For example, "hearsay evidence" is not admissible in court. The judge won't allow it to be used. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Sun Aug 17, 2008 23:33 pm Did you ever use the contraction mayn't for 'may not'? |
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| nessie wrote: | By the way, is 'hear say' popular in British English, MrP?
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It turns up in the contexts Jamie describes; cf. also this less usual context.
Best wishes,
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| Sentence: This is where you will learn English. | Why I have to learn English? |
So in my jokes I'll tend to use this form. 