(ānt)
Nonstandard - Contraction of am not.
- Used also as a contraction for are not, is not, has not, and have not.
Usage Note: Ain't has a long history of controversy. It first appeared in 1778, evolving from an earlier
an't, which arose almost a century earlier as a contraction of
are not and
am not. In fact,
ain't arose at the tail end of an era that saw the introduction of a number of our most common contractions, including
don't and
won't. But while
don't and
won't eventually became accepted at all levels of speech and writing,
ain't was to receive a barrage of criticism in the 19th century for having no set sequence of words from which it can be contracted and for being a “vulgarism,” that is, a term used by the lower classes, although
an't at least had been originally used by the upper classes as well. At the same time
ain't's uses were multiplying to include
has not, have not, and
is not, by influence of forms like
ha'n't and
i'n't. It may be that these extended uses helped fuel the negative reaction. Whatever the case, criticism of
ain't by usage commentators and teachers has not subsided, and the use of
ain't is often regarded as a sign of ignorance. • But despite all the attempts to ban it,
ain't continues to enjoy extensive use in speech. Even educated and upper-class speakers see no substitute in folksy expressions such as
Say it ain't so and
You ain't seen nothin' yet. • The stigmatization of
ain't leaves us with no happy alternative for use in first-person questions. The widely used
aren't I? though illogical, was found acceptable for use in speech by a majority of the Usage Panel in an earlier survey, but in writing there is no acceptable substitute for the stilted
am I not?