British English and "ain't"

[Azure-Supernova]

I use it quite often when I'm talking. Then again the particular area I'm from has a bit of a reputation for bastardizing many other contractions such as can't, don't, won't and yes even ain't.

Can't = Car
Don't = Doe
Won't = Woe
Ain't = Ay

I use ain't in place of 'am not'. So 'I am not doing that' changes to 'I ain't doing that'. Typing it out just looks odd and out of place amongst fully formed sentences. It's funny, because were that sentence being delivered vocally it would likely lose any sound of intelligence: 'I ain't doin' that!' as I have a habit of dropping g's.

 

[Originality]

I hear it a lot in London, but "ain't" has never crept into my vocabulary. Neither has most of the words that surrounded me in high school, such as "innit" or the colourful variety of profane words. I wonder why...?

 

[Vault Citizen]

I wished more Americans used "innit". If you're going to force a question into every sentence, I'd prefer "innit?" to "you know (what I mean)?" I swear, some people just have total aversions to statements and only speak in questions.

Personally I think whichever group came up with the word innit (my guess is either chavs or northerners) should be banned from contributing to the English language ever again. I remain hopeful that as a word it will one day die out.

Lol and that's another word I didn't know until I joined this community, "Chav", lol.
I can most assuredly say that the word doesn't exist in the States.

Put simply they are Britain's urban equivalent of hicks.

 

[Lord Penney]

Aren't and isn't are the words of choice here. But 'ain't' occasionally crops up, if rarely.

 

[Brazilianpeanutwar]

I'm a northern english lad,instead of saying "ain't" (apart from a few occasions when it obviously makes sense in a sentence) we use the word "int" it's just a pronunciation but we kind of miss out the "T" as well.

Wow this is harder to explain than i thought haha :]

for example : "It ain't my problem" becomes "It in' my problem"

hrmmm i'm bad at explaining sorry :]

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

I say "ain't" but that's to be expected when you live in Texas.

I've never heard a Brit say it though, and I've visited England quite a few times (and my father grew up there as well).

 

[Ironman126]

Huh. I'll have to present that to some of the folks I know from the military and see if it'll actually catch on. Worth checking to see how quickly it spreads.

How long have you been using this word?

Good question. Probably for about a year now.

 

[CATB320]

I live in Kentucky. I hear "ain't" a lot, and I say it sometimes, so long as it's a casual situation. nbd.

 

[Naheal]

Huh. I'll have to present that to some of the folks I know from the military and see if it'll actually catch on. Worth checking to see how quickly it spreads.

How long have you been using this word?

Good question. Probably for about a year now.

Is it something that you hear others outside of your group of friends say?

 

[Ironman126]

Huh. I'll have to present that to some of the folks I know from the military and see if it'll actually catch on. Worth checking to see how quickly it spreads.

How long have you been using this word?

Good question. Probably for about a year now.

Is it something that you hear others outside of your group of friends say?

Yes. People i've talked to, mostly, but others outside my group use it.

 

[northeast rower]

I often use "ain't" in conversation. It is regional to a certain extent, but I think that it just comes out of the same part of the human brain that has certain cultures assigning certain names for certain things.