The contraction for “is not” is “isn’t”. The contraction for “are not” is “aren’t”. But what’s the contraction for “am not”? I got curious about that, and looked up “amn’t” in my unabridged dictionary. Turns out that the word actually exists as a contraction for “am not”, but the M is silent and it’s pronounced ant. Over time, the A got lenghtened and it became “ain’t” (ever wonder why the apostrophe is there?). “Ain’t” is a contraction for “am not”, so it’s incorrect the way it’s used in the strip, but it should be considered correct if used instead of “am not”.
I just got finished watching the entire run of “The Andy Griffith Show”, and boy did they use the word “ain’t” a lot in that show! (and one of Andy’s girlfriends in that show was a school teacher!) ☺
Purple People Eater over 1 year ago
The contraction for “is not” is “isn’t”. The contraction for “are not” is “aren’t”. But what’s the contraction for “am not”? I got curious about that, and looked up “amn’t” in my unabridged dictionary. Turns out that the word actually exists as a contraction for “am not”, but the M is silent and it’s pronounced ant. Over time, the A got lenghtened and it became “ain’t” (ever wonder why the apostrophe is there?). “Ain’t” is a contraction for “am not”, so it’s incorrect the way it’s used in the strip, but it should be considered correct if used instead of “am not”.
Doug K over 1 year ago
My sister has got no cereal and she has got no sense.
The Reader Premium Member over 1 year ago
He ain’t got that wrong.
timbob2313 Premium Member over 1 year ago
OK dad, now explain to Joe why his answer is wrong
jagedlo over 1 year ago
You just had to drag Ruthie into the conversation, didn’t you, Joe?
ChessPirate over 1 year ago
I just got finished watching the entire run of “The Andy Griffith Show”, and boy did they use the word “ain’t” a lot in that show! (and one of Andy’s girlfriends in that show was a school teacher!) ☺