It's in the Lord of the Rings - I know because it was included in my daughter's list of vocab words. And it's in a poem I once memorized! Xanadu by Coleridge... It starts, "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/a stately pleasure dome decree..." and eventually gets to, "And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills/where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree/And here were forests ancient as the hills/enfolding sunny spots of greenery." My daughter's also pretty sure she's seen it in her fantasy novels along with "dells", but she can't say where exactly.
LOL I knew the word was probably in works I'd seen, but it's certainly not anywhere near as common as "ain't," and it's obviously completely forgettable, for me anyway!
And I can't see her impressed if she can''t spell "ain't" despite it being used in literature quite frequently. And calling the author of the program a dunce was uncallled for.
Just a few literary quotes, featuring "ain't", starting with my all-time favorite! Ain't in Literature: And in politics... And finally...
Here's what I find comical- I'm getting chewed out for using the word 'dunce', but nothing got said to another poster whose post contained two blatant swear words. One of those swear words used God's name. Where's the outrage for that? It's true this isn't a Christian board, but any form of 'gd or- any swear words really-' should be avoided here. And- I'd put a dunce cap on any program that included ain't.
Whoops - sorry for offending you. I'll delete that paragraph - my only point was to illustrate that even when children learn "bad" words, they don't necessarily ever use them inappropriately. To my then-2yo son and his father, that particular line from Meatloaf's album was their way of saying "I love you." I think it's a sweet story, personally. P.S. I believe the issue some folks have with "dunce" is that you were using the word to attack an author of a curriculum. So it's not the word that offends, it's the intent behind the word.
No problem, Meg. It wasn't that you posted the swear words, it was that swear words were posted and nobody freaked. Knowing some of these ladies so long now, I thought the board would explode when they saw them, lol.:lol:
Well then, it won't be the first time I've walked through a minefield without realizing it's there. :love: I'm glad you're not upset, because I've been honestly enjoying this debate. I've got a whole new respect for that little contraction, now that I've discovered that "ain't" dates back to 1770, and was good enough for Abraham Lincoln to use.
I honestly didn't realize it wasn't clean - I quoted a line from a song by Meatloaf called "Wasted Youth", which my son and my husband used to enjoy quoting to each other when my son was a toddler. I wrote "God" as "G@d'. I also mentioned the title of the album, which is "Bat out of" a certain very, very hot place. It's a story I've told in church! :lol:
:love: Quite honestly, Meg, I can't BEGIN to imagine anybody quoting ANYthing from Meatloaf at my church, and I don't know anybody personally who would consider that quote appropriate coming from a two year old, no matter HOW it's interpreted within the 2yo's family.... But I don't hold it against you or anything.....:love:
Our church is awesome! Very lively and welcoming. Terrific Sunday school (and I can say that, because I teach in it!). My husband is deeply involved with the sex ed program for teenagers, and has been for years. I think we're all well past being squeamish about language here. One of the first exercises we do in Grade 5 Sex Ed is ask the kids what words they know for male and female body parts. We write them all down on the board - rude or polite, silly or offensive, scientific or slang - and then when the kids stop giggling, we discuss them. Why are there more names for boy parts, than girl parts? Why do some names hurt? Interestingly we've never had a class where everyone agreed on *which* names hurt - there's always someone who is fine with a word someone else finds offensive. When you bring something out into the light, you strip it of its power.
wow, Meg it sounds very open eh? I think I would have opted out of the sex ed class thats more a private subject, but I can see where some parents would rather not deal with the subject lol. My experience has been that there is a difference in Canadian and American slang too, we talk differently in both countries even though we both speak english there is a lot of different emphasis and ideas. Personally I always take that into account being 'growed 'up in both places hehe, Back to the original topic, I think that Aint is the same way, it depends on where you live if its used as a slang or sloppy word or if its considered normal. THere are words people speak at my church that my kids know I consider cuss words but to these people its not. I have discussions all the time over it. It is weird how the world has changed so much even in my little lifetime. What would Jesus do? Thats what I think....
Exactly! A word is just a word. It's only offensive when given certain intonation or used in a certain context. Strip intent, tone and context away and you're left with nothing more than a group of letters. I can't believe I missed the "cussing". (Usually it's me. ) And if your story about "I love you" is wrong and inappropriate there is no way I will tell mine then. Even though not a single cuss word is used!! (Just look in a thesaurus under Love. When I first saw it and showed Dh we both LOBO...)
I didn't read all the answers. However, I don't see anything wrong with knowing how to spell ain't. I hate the world...hate it! But, hey...knowing how to spell it is not a problem. As Actressdancer pointed out...contradictions are not supposed to be used in formal writing or speaking anyway. I don't know. I do find it odd a spelling curriculum has the word. I can not stand the word. I would never allow my kids to use it. I have NEVER used it. I am not perfect...I say other stupid junk..like "stupid junk" but ain't...well, it ain't coming out of my mouth! lol. I had a teacher in elementary school that made you write 100 times "Ain't ain't no word." if you said it in class. LOL. He was a hoot.
I'd have to agree. With all the love in the world..it's just not my cup of tea. But we are all different. If a sunday school teacher said that in my church...it would most likely be their last Sunday teaching.
My experience has been that there is a difference in Canadian and American slang too, we talk differently in both countries even though we both speak english there is a lot of different emphasis and ideas. Had some friends once, who had moved from up northeast someplace, and they commented on the difference in cusswords between there and here - one in particular, which was descriptive of the intestinal waste product. Where they came from, it was a very short, ugly syllable (so short it almost didn't have a vowel) that to them sounded like exactly what it meant. But they found that here in the deep south the way it's usually said, it didn't sound so bad to them, because people tended to draw the word out very long. (Imagine Gomer Pyle saying "go-oooo-ooooollllllllleeeeeeeee" then translate that to the other word.) When you bring something out into the light, you strip it of its power. DH had an English prof in college who taught this philosophy by having each member of the class stand up and say the vilest cussword they could think of, then go home and look in the mirror and say all the ones they knew in the mirror until the words lost all their meaning. I thought it was strange then, and I think it's strange now. I was brought up in a non-church-going home where there were cusswords in almost every sentence (not mine - my dad's), especially where irritation, annoyance, or similar strong feelings were expressed, the stronger the emotion, the stronger the cusswords (but NEVER the F-bomb). (This is not the case in my house, unless I'm so angry that I absolutely am out of all control -- not often.) But there are quite a few rock songs lyrics I would not want to hear come out of a 2yo's mouth, or uttered by anyone at church.
