# Is the contraction "amn't" used anywhere but Ireland?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-contraction-amnt-used-anywhere-but-ireland/444547>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 9, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-contraction-amnt-used-anywhere-but-ireland/444547 "2008-04-09T01:10:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-contraction-amnt-used-anywhere-but-ireland/444547/21 "2008-04-10T14:04:48Z")

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[QUOTE=acsenray]  
What exactly is offensive about it?  
[/QUOTE]

It implies that there’s precisely one dialect which covers the whole of the southeast. A broad brush which ignores a lot of regional variation, it’s about as meaningful as saying ‘the dialect of northern England’.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-contraction-amnt-used-anywhere-but-ireland/444547/22 "2008-04-10T14:13:34Z")

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Well then it isn’t offensive, but its use of the term “[dialect] of Southeast England” is inaccurate. It’s a Wiki. Why not fix it?

Currently it says:

> [@](#):
>
> Historically, it was present in many dialects of the English language, but not that of Southeast England, which became the standard.

Would this be more accurate?

_Historically, it was present in many dialects of the English language, but not in the southeastern England dialect that became the standard._

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-contraction-amnt-used-anywhere-but-ireland/444547/23 "2008-04-10T14:28:58Z")

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Yes, exactly.

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**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-contraction-amnt-used-anywhere-but-ireland/444547/24 "2008-04-10T17:17:16Z")

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I always thought that it would make sense as a contraction of “am” and “not,” much more than “ain’t.” Gonna snatch this one for use, and spread it around.

But I amn’t going to forgoe credit where it’s due!

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