I don’t think it’s fair to say that ‘ain’t’ is a reflection of education. I use it and I’ve had countless professors here who use it. A reflection of culture, yes. Education? No.
And now I must be honest, I don’t know why the use of At in these places is wrong.
I have a cow orker who continually says, “irregardless” Arrrgghh!
Another cannot simply say “me” or “you” rather “myself” or “yourself” as in, “I’ll assign this task to yourself, and when your finished please report back to myself.”
Then there’s this president I’ve read about who likes “nuk-yoo-lar” and whose “terrorist” is indistinguishable from “tourist”
(funny: in commenting on other’s linguistic anomolies I find myself hypersensitive that I may post some of my ownselfs)
“Hoss” drives me absolutely batshit. I normally don’t mind the Southern “accent” (I’m willing to acknowledge us Northerners have the accents!) but soon as that dam “hoss” comes out I want to scream.
The incorrect use of those “self” words makes me nuts! They are reflective pronouns for a reason - they are “reflections” of the pronouns that already used (not implied) in a sentence. It seems I am one of the few who know that. So, if you are going to say “myself” you must say “I” first. Same with “yourself” and “you” and so on. A big part of the problem is that too many people are taught something that amounts to never using the word “me” in a list of people and then finding out that that’s not the case at all. So, when they find out that there are times when “me” can be used in a list, people get all confused and decide they aren’t going to say “I” or “me” so they substitute “myself”. THEN they decide, over time, that it sounds good and even more formal that way and begin to use it with “you” and “they”.
I feel a real rant coming on. Somebody stop me from getting into “who” vs. “whom”.
At the very least “at” is unnecessary in each (expand the contraction in the third example). A stickler may object to the ending of the sentence with a preposition (a “rule” which must be broken at times). Colloquially, it paints the speaker with the same brush as with those who say “ain’t”
Puristic pet peeve: Using “like” where “as” should be used, “Do it like I showed you.”
Hoss: The use of brute strength usually to move or haul something that should be done with machinery or tools. From the Bonanza character Hoss. His size and strength usually overcame any obstacle.
My boyfriend uses “whenever” in situations where he should use “when”.
ex. "Whenever I was in the fourth grade, I … "
“Whenever my first dog died, she …”
I used to say, “What, you were in the fourth grade more than once?” or “What, she died more than once?” Now I just ignore it and try not to start doing it myself.
Yes, I know what the fuck you are saying. I just listened to you say it. I heard it, I think I even understood it, therefore by insinuation I do know what you are saying.
I would perhaps comprehend what in the name of Jeebus you MEANT to fucking say had you been speaking somewhat above a 2nd grade level, and with considerably fewer "ya know"s and "like"s interspersed in your prose, but I do believe that at minimum, I know what you are saying.
You are saying in essence that you are an illiterate puddle of cow drool who isn’t even confident enough of your own speaking skills that you can’t finish a simple declarative sentence without double checking to see if I got it.
