>On Thu, 21 Mar 2002, Ilia wrote:
>> Ain't has been a word for a while now... it comes from Victorian
>> English. It just went out of use, but has been coming back lately I
>> guess.
>
>Andrew Coutermarsh <a_couter@mail.plymouth.edu> wrote:
>IMO, ain't is a word to be used in the same manner as "oughtn't," which is
>also a word that is infrequently used, or "mightn't," or the like. It's
>just that "irregardless," much like "judgement," (which should be
>"judgment") were never words in the first place, and only came to be
>because people were using them incorrectly. Words should NEVER be created
>to make something that was original incorrect correct.
>
All words were "never words in the first place." It's just part
of a language's evolution to end up with exceptional cases like judgement
and irregardless. It doesn't make sense to say they aren't words when
most everyone knows how to communicate with them and especially when
they're recognized by an official source such as a dictionary. :-)
Steve
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