# "Oh, no she didn't", with the second "D" silent **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326 "2015-05-05T17:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/21 "2015-05-06T04:31:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > We’re both wrong. I was referring to Ben Zimmer’s comment, which wasn’t from 1993. But his comment wasn’t from 1999 either; it was, as you said, from 2004. Sorry, I realized I must have misunderstood what you were referring to; thanks for explaining that. I had a more detailed post that got eaten, but I found examples from _Martin_(Martin Lawrence’s character Shenehneh) and _In Living Color_ (Jamie Foxx’s Wanda) that both use the phrase with the meaning, but not the pronunciation. [Scrubs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueygWycRrWg) made reference to a ‘minority sidekick in a bad movie’ but she doesn’t drop the d with any emphasis. The particular pronunciation might well be traced to Rosie Perez or imitations of her. Even [she uses it as an apparent catch phrase](https://twitter.com/rosieperezbklyn/status/282907759173853184) (or at least the recipient calls it a ‘signature Rosie Perez “Oh no you didn’t”’) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/22 "2015-05-06T08:03:06Z")
It’s just lazy diction. When I was at school in the 50s we got pulled up for this: “There’s a ‘t’ in bu-a”; “There’s no such word as aint”. And that was almost exclusively white middle class English boys. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/23 "2015-05-06T13:51:10Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > “There’s no such word as aint”. Surely you realize this should be “There ain’t no such word as ain’t.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/24 "2015-05-06T14:24:30Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > It’s just lazy diction. Dropping certain letters is a feature of many if not most English dialects. Laziness has nothing to do with it. > [@](#): > > “There’s a ‘t’ in bu-a”; I’m not sure what word you are trying to indicate here. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/25 "2015-05-06T15:10:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > “There’s a ‘t’ in bu-a”; > > I’m not sure what word you are trying to indicate here. I believe **bob++** is from Great Britain, and is indicating something akin to a Cockney pronunciation of “_butter_”. . ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/26 "2015-05-06T15:15:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’m not sure what word you are trying to indicate here. In some dialects, “butter” is pronounced “butta,” and even the “tt” may be dropped – “Pass me da BUH-uh.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/27 "2015-05-06T15:48:24Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > I had a more detailed post that got eaten, but I found examples from _Martin_(Martin Lawrence’s character Shenehneh) and _In Living Color_ (Jamie Foxx’s Wanda) that both use the phrase with the meaning, but not the pronunciation. Nice sleuthing 😃 It should be noted - for the OP and for others unfamiliar with the catchphrase - that the pronunciation of “didn’t” as “_di’-'int_!” is not the Ur-catchphrase. It’s just a latter-day variation on a theme. Some places that, today in 2015, you will sometimes hear the catchphrase as described in the OP is in cartoons. The typical Disney or Cartoon Network (CN) or Nickelodeon fare. For one specific example: I would bet money that the character Cyborg on _Teen Titans Go!_ has uttered the phrase or something similar, as Cyborg sometimes adopts the sassy-black-woman personna as a comedic trope. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/28 "2015-05-06T16:05:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s a common accent here in Schenectady – a baby cat is a ki’in. And they’d say “I di’int go.” > > All the people I’ve heard it were either of Italian or Polish descent. How do you pronounce “cotton”? Do you say “kaht-tun”, and sound like a pedant, or do you say “kah-un” like the rest of us do? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/29 "2015-05-06T16:39:42Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > How do you pronounce “cotton”? > > Do you say “kaht-tun”, and sound like a pedant, or do you say “kah-un” like the rest of us do? As an Upstate New Yorker, I always put in the “t” sound. It would sound weird any other way, no matter how informal the conversation. Same for butter. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/30 "2015-05-06T16:43:53Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I believe **bob++** is from Great Britain, and is indicating something akin to a Cockney pronunciation of “_butter_”. > [@Cartoonacy](#): > > In some dialects, “butter” is pronounced “butta,” and even the “tt” may be dropped – “Pass me da BUH-uh.” I figured it out after posting. The pronunciation would be similar in Bronxese, which shares some features like this with Cockney. Dropping letters of course is not a sign of “laziness,” although teachers may try to shame students into speaking more standard English by characterizing it that way. My mother, who has a strong Bronx accent, pronounces “oil burner” as “earl boinuh.” Does adding an “r” make her industrious?😉 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/31 "2015-05-06T18:33:44Z")
So it’s (the catchphrase thing, not the pronunciation thing) effectively like saying “No fucking way!”… ? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/32 "2015-05-06T18:50:38Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > So it’s (the catchphrase thing, not the pronunciation thing) effectively like saying “No fucking way!”… ? “No Fuck’n way”…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/33 "2015-05-06T19:26:35Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > How do you pronounce “cotton”? > > Do you say “kaht-tun”, and sound like a pedant, or do you say “kah-un” like the rest of us do? Neither. I say “kaht-ən,” pronouncing the T sound, but only in the first syllable. (For comparison, I’m a _down_state New Yorker.) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/34 "2015-05-06T19:37:41Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > So it’s (the catchphrase thing, not the pronunciation thing) effectively like saying “No fucking way!”… ? Sometimes it’s used something like that – but not to merely express incredulity about any and all non-specific things. “_Oh, no she didn’t!_” is pretty much used only in response to a specific thing another person has said or done. The textbook usage (such as there is) would be in response to personal challenge of some sort. **A (to B and others present):** “_Michael said he’s leaving you, and moving in with me! Girlfriend!_” **B (to A and others present):** “_Oh, no she didn’t!_” (“No effing way” would work here, too, though with a different connotation). **A (to B with no one else present):** “_Lisa told me that Michael said he’s leaving you, and moving in with her!_” **B (to A with no one else present):** “_Oh, no she didn’t!_” (“No effing way” would work here, too, though with a different connotation). **A (to B):** “_Lisa just drove her new car off the lot, and she totalled it on the way home!_” **B (to A):** “_No effing way!_” (“Oh, no she didn’t!” would NOT work here). A literal meaning of “_Oh, no she didn’t!_” might be “_How dare she!_”, “_Who does she think she is?_”, or “_So she wants to start something with me that she knows she can’t finish?!_”. In seedier circles, it can be a direct prelude to a physical confrontation … something close to “_Do you want to step outside?_” between females. Of course, it’s usage in media these days (especially in cartoons) is much neutered. It’s usually just used for comic effect and/or to convey “sassiness”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/35 "2015-05-06T20:44:55Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > So it’s (the catchphrase thing, not the pronunciation thing) effectively like saying “No fucking way!”… ? Yes. Typically it includes a[finger wag,](http://www.laurenwantstoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/oh_no_you_di_int_retro_housewife_b_w_tshirt-2350404324044318021-300x3001-500x300.jpg)[hand wave,](http://chaoticsignal.com/image/original/OH%20NO%20YOU%20DI%20INT%20MICHELLE%20OBAMA.jpg) [head shake,](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cf0T-1J_U-o/UVh70qucGgI/AAAAAAAAAa8/TocazUudyqE/s1600/oh_no_you_didnt.jpg) and/or a [finger snap,](http://i.imgur.com/8TLbc.gif) all indicating sassiness. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/36 "2015-05-06T21:59:58Z")
Go watch some episodes of _The Bill Cosby Show_ from th ‘80s, you will hear the kids call Heathcliff Huxtable "da’", which ends with a sort of glottal stop. It seems like it was just the way they talked. (And for me, cotton is a 1.5 syllable word that renders kind of like "KAHT’n.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/37 "2015-05-06T22:12:52Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > So it’s (the catchphrase thing, not the pronunciation thing) effectively like saying “No fucking way!”… ? Not quite. The meaning is more literal than that, showing incredulity, disapproval, and often anger that “she” just “did” whatever it is that she just was described as (or seen as) doing. It’s more like “I can’t believe she fucking did that!” said in an angry or at least disapproving tone. The “she” can be replaced with “he,” “they,” or even possibly “you.” And the disapproval can occasionally be a mock disapproval. You know, the kind where you’re saying it’s wrong but are actually admiring that they had the guts to do it. Example: “So Moesha just walked up to him and started making out with him.” “With Britney’s boyfriend? Oh no she didn’t!” EDIT: or what bodeline said. I should have refreshed. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/38 "2015-05-06T22:25:15Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Neither. I say “kaht-ən,” pronouncing the T sound, but only in the first syllable. > > (For comparison, I’m a _down_state New Yorker.) Most people I know use both the unaspirated /t/ stop and a glottal to start a continual n. In quick speech, the glottal may be elided. I’ve only heard the /t/ stop be elided instead of the glottal in certain British or New England dialects. IPA: [ˈkɒt˭(ʔ)nː] or [ˈkɑt˭t(ʔ)nː] ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/39 "2015-05-06T23:11:54Z")
_e-li-sion_ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326/40 "2015-05-06T23:45:08Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Neither. I say “kaht-ən,” pronouncing the T sound, but only in the first syllable. > > (For comparison, I’m a _down_state New Yorker.) Yep, first syllable “t”. Seriously, who says it without any “t” sound? _Wish I was in the land of kah-un_ I don’t care how thick your drawl is. Nobody talks that way. > [@tapu](#): > > _e-li-sion_ Shouldn’t it be elis-ion? As in Elis in Wonderland? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-she-didnt-with-the-second-d-silent/719326.md?page=3)