Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE

[Baker, John]

I think it's pretty common:  232,000 Google hits.  Clearly not the same as "that isn't right," which is more the kind of thing you would say about an incorrect math answer.
 
 
John Baker
 

________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Dennis Preston
Sent: Tue 4/8/2008 1:30 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE



You're right; brand names might be out, but I don't understand "That
ain't right."

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
>Subject:      Re: Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>         I'm not sure if you're counting uses that are really quotations,
>such as "Say it ain't so, Joe."  But "That ain't right" should qualify.
>I think that in general I hear "ain't" less often than in years past,
>though that could be a function of my living in suburban Maryland rather
>than rural Kentucky.
>
>         I do hear "You're the man" (though not "You are the man").  The
>"apples" version I'm used to is "How do you like them apples?"
>
>         I don't think brand names, such as "Dunkin' Donuts," should
>count.
>
>         Outlook's spell-check tried to get me to change "ain't" to
>"isn't" when I first started to send this message.
>
>
>John Baker
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>Of Dennis Preston
>Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 11:02 AM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE
>
>Almost certainly the case, and recall that I continue to be interested
>in people providing me with even further examples of obligatory
>nonstandards.
>
>E.g.,
>
>What do you think of (or "How bout") them (never "those") apples.
>
>You the ("da") man (never "You are the man").
>
>/Si:It/ for metaphoric uses, but never for feces. (/SIt/ is OK for both
>uses.) (/S/ = palatal sibilant)
>
>You can't go to "Dunking Donuts," even if you claim to never "drop your
>g's."
>
>Are there any obligatory "ain'ts"? Others?
>
>dInIs
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>>Subject:      Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>Some may recall that I once claimed that, regardless of a speaker's
>>usual register, he tends to move it toward the working-class norm, when
>
>>using slang or slang-like expressions.
>>
>>Middle-class, black, male speaker complaining about his cheating wife:
>>
>>She was unbelievable, your honor! She _wadn_ cool at at all. She would
>>call me at work to find out when I was coming home, so that she would
>>know how much time she had to do her _thing [TaeIN]_!"
>>
>>-Wilson
>>--
>>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>-----
>>   -Sam'l Clemens
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>--
>Dennis R. Preston
>University Distinguished Professor
>Department of English
>Morrill Hall 15-C
>Michigan State University
>East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org