[Ads-l] wanna, gonna

[Rich Lowenthal]

Many people say "wanna" for "want to" when speaking off-the-cuff and in 
less formal contexts (such as Slotkin's event at the University of 
Chicago). That quote shows up in articles about Republican criticism of 
Slotkin, making me suspect there is a political slant to the use of 
"wanna" in the transcription as a way of demeaning the speaker. Are you 
seeing the usage in other contexts?


------ Original Message ------
>From "Jonathan Lighter" 
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 10/20/2026 7:46:50 AM
Subject wanna, gonna

>These re-spellings are showing up more and more in my newsfeed in
>quotations from otherwise standard speakers.
>
>Traditionally they've been associated with, shall we say, poorly educated
>or supposedly amusing speakers.
>
>I find this jarring, e.g.: " "I wanna look at these signature cases and not
>just focus on the president but on the people who enabled him," the
>Michigan Democrat said.
>
>I haven't yet seen an ex. in the writer's own voice.
>
>JL
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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