BUT- y'all is a dialect thing. In Jeannie's old troop, one of the moms was uber Southern, lol. One evening she was trying to get the girls' attention and she was shouting 'Y'ALL! Y'ALL! HEY, Y'ALL LISTEN UP!':lol:
I'll have to do some more digging, but I vaguely remember studying a Shakespeare play in college in which the word ain't was used. It is a real word just as much as any other word. Again, it's a great opportunity to discuss formal vs. informal writing. Technically, if you want to gripe about speaking correctly, one would NEVER use a contraction of any sort. Contractions are simply not tolerated in formal writing and speech.
okay... I think they taste like too much food coloring , lol. But hey it explains why you are so sweet ! Lol
DUDE! Your like so right! Seriously where would our states and cultural differences be with out our slang words? This gives us diversity of language in one country! I kinda like most slang but I still would not put it in an english lesson lol would you?
I wouldn't on purpose, but I see nothing wrong with learning to spell ain't correctly. In some parts of the country it is used quite a lot, so if you're going to use it, you should learn to spell it. Like I said, if you're going to exclude words from LA because they are not 'proper', then you shouldn't allow any contractions; not just ain't.
Well, you know what they say about the Brits, Aussies, Canucks, and Yanks -- we're separated by a common language!
Concerning the proper use of y'all: There is a great need in our language for a distinction between the singular "you" and the plural "you". If I'm talking to one person, I would say, "You are invited to my house." And that person would understand. However, if I wished also to invite the person's spouse or significant other, I'd say, "Y'all come." Further, if I know that the person's brother and sister-in-law and their three children are visiting with them, and I still wish to extend the invitation to the entire group, proper Southern demands the use of the emphatic inclusive form: "Y'all ALL come."
Sure ain't is a word. A word is a sound or group of sounds used to convey meaning. I certainly don't see it as acceptable in a program teaching correct grammar, but I do see how it would be beneficial to know how to spell a word that many people use.
I'm all over talkin' smack 'bout Peeps!:twisted: Lovin' the distinctions concerning "y'all", Lindina. :lol: I'm a yank, myself. And I would like to know....what is ain't a contraction of? (yes, I'm aware that I used a preposition at the end of my sentence )
I suppose ain't is a contraction of "are not" as mispronounced "air not" and misused with the first person singular. I ain't, you ain't, he/she/it ain't, we ain't, y'all ain't!, they ain't. The all-purpose "be negative" verb!
Becky, Really? You would give up an entire curriculum that you otherwise like and is working (and is multi-level) because it has included a (or even some) word(s) you do not think of as proper? just skip it. We got the the list that had proper names...we replaced Onterio with Albuquerque....and some of the others too with Phoenix and Tucson...all very oddly spelled words that considering we live in this part of the country are fairly important...but I didn't fuss that the list didn't include the "right" words. Spelling Power would have to be a hs curriculum mainly because it would be impossible to use for more than a few kids. Who could do 30 seperate spelling tests? and keep track of where each kid was. ugh. That is one of the things I just LOVE about it...that it doesn't waste our time "learning" words the boys already know. I think you should give it a second chance...
I would give it up, because to me that showed poor judgement. Extremely poor judgement. Insulting, actually. We're homeschoolers- don't we want better for our kids to begin with? So why tolerate a curriculum that wants to be sure they can spell a word that will make them appear uneducated every time they speak it in a noncasual setting? Slipping out at a job interview- how would that look?? Changing the cities to more relevant ones is a different situation. You make me wish I had thought to change those Canadian cities to Maryland ones!
And before anybody gets mad at me- I am NOT saying I think less of anybody that uses ain't in regular, everyday conversation. All I'm saying is it does not belong in a spelling curriculum.
Do you expect your children will only ever write formal essays? That they will never use colloquialisms in creative writing? That they will never read Dickens or Twain? If you're bringing your children up to be educated, literate people, then sooner or later they're going to come across this word. This is an opportunity for you to teach them your personal opinion on the word, so that they never use it in a job interview (or in your presence). Respectfully, I do think you are overreacting if you truly intend to throw away a curriculum because of this one word. As I tell my husband (who is also prone to grand gestures), consider waiting a week before you make any firm decisions and see how you feel about it then. :love:
I agree with you Becky I would not use it if it had that in it. I think it was poor judgment also. The word ain't to me is like hearing someone scratch the chalk board. It makes me crazy.
I always thought that it was the contraction for am and is using the a from am and the i from is so you could use it all the time lol! He is not going. He ain't going. I am not going. I ain't going. I guess I never thought it being for the word are, thanks for the new view!
I looked it up and found this link very informative of it's origins, although not definitive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't
