I'm are

Scot LaFaive spiderrmonkey at HOTMAIL.COM
Thu Sep 6 19:23:37 UTC 2007


In a recent song by Timbaland ("The Way You Are"), there's an odd piece of
grammar. The course is as follows:

"Baby if you strip, you can get a tip
'Cause I like you just the way you are
I'm about to strip and I'm well equipped
Can you handle me the way I'm are?"

Some websites say the last line is "Can you handle me the way I are?" but it
sounds to me like "I'm are" (and some websites agree). Aside from the usage
of "I" and "are" together, the really cool/crazy/bizarre thing here is the
use of a double "to be" verb.

Question: is the chunk "I are" common at all in Black English or was it just
made up here solely for rhyming purposes?

Scot

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