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What someone on another forum said about "ain't".

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Sonic200
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11 Oct 2023, 1:37 pm

There were historically two contractions. "an't" for "am not" and "are not". "In't" for "is not". Those later merged into "ain't".

There was once also a contraction "hain't" for "have not" and "has not". That also merged with "ain't".



blitzkrieg
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11 Oct 2023, 1:43 pm

Innit is a fairly common slang word in many parts of England.

I have never heard of "b'ain't" though.



ToughDiamond
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11 Oct 2023, 10:47 pm

blitzkrieg wrote:
I have never heard of "b'ain't" though.

Then 'ee b'ain't prapper Demshur, me anzum.



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11 Oct 2023, 10:54 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
And in truth "aint" goes back to England. Dickens put the word into the mouths of many of his characters...though it was usually his lower class characters. "Aint no better teacher than Fagan" in how to be a pickpocket.

It's also used by some of the middle class in some Anthony Trollop stories (Victorian).