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Construction "ain't history"



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
was/were (Them looking after the kids was/were a great help.) | Phrase "the cost of flying"?
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Construction "ain't history" Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:29 am  Construction "ain't history"
 

Is it true that the contracted form ain't was once used by both the English upper classes and the English lower classes?
Molly
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ain't history Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:33 am  ain't history
 

Yes.

MrP
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ain't history Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:36 am  ain't history
 

MrPedantic wrote:
Yes.

MrP

What happened? Why did the Uppers stop using it?
Molly
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ain't history Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:40 am  ain't history
 

Why did they stop saying "damn your eyes!" and wearing knee-breeches?

MrP
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ain't history Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:41 am  ain't history
 

MrPedantic wrote:
Why did they stop saying "damn your eyes!" and wearing knee-breeches?

MrP

Not sure, why?
Molly
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ain't history Wed Jun 25, 2008 20:27 pm  ain't history
 

You can find examples of "upper class ain't" in e.g. Byron's letters.

(Of course, they are worth reading for several other reasons too.)

MrP
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Construction "ain't history" Thu Jun 26, 2008 0:21 am  Construction "ain't history"
 

I suppose one of the pros of "ain't" is its flexibility -- it's used to take the place of at least four common contractions... and after a crappy day at work, I'm not gonna tax myself trying to figure out more (hehe):

Isn't
Aren't
Hasn't
Haven't
prezbucky
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Construction "ain't history" Thu Jun 26, 2008 0:21 am  Construction "ain't history"
 

I ain't had a good day at work.

hehe
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was/were (Them looking after the kids was/were a great help.) | Phrase "the cost of flying"?
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