"Ain't" ain't a word, or is it?

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]  

[Daemon_King]

I use it, and if you can spell, then it's a word in my book.  

[Mizufusion]

I like to use "ain't" sometimes, but I shy away from it in formal writing, because so many people think of it as slang. Then again, I try to avoid using contractions in formal writing anyway. Whether or not they are correct, they still have a tendancy to make you sound uneducated or lazy in such a setting.  

[~prize_in_the_box~]

It's a word (this is a mini belief of mine) if it's in the dictionary.  

[DarkElf27]

I use it if I'm trying to imply an accent, but not as an actual word.  

[DrunkenMonkey89]

I use it and see nothing wrong with it. It is in the written dictionary as well, and the net; it doesn't sound bad, so hey! May as well go with it, who cares if a few people don't like it? Screwem'.  

[Zealot of Insanity]

I try not to use it.  

[[^Blazing-Fire^]]

I bearly ever use it because I never have had to use. except mabye on msn but that is besides the point.  

[LunchRush]

I wouldn't call it a word. As you have said, other words, such as "don't" were accepted as words during the same time period. However, "isn't/aren't" was also one of them. It was considered a word as well, and it means the exact same thing. This is why I don't consider it a word.  

[Emerald_Jasmine]

It is indeed a word. It's a slang word, but that doesn't make it any less a word. I mean, I wouldn't use it in formal writing, but it ain't bad in a less formal setting. I don't think using it a lot is a good plan, but when used sparingly it can add spice.  

[[-T h e a t r e.G e e k-]]

Well, I am a literate southern girl and I see nothing wrong with the word ain't at all. I use it quite often.  

[Pish-Posh]

I asked my reading teacher and she said the dictionary isn't really used for proper words.
It is for words.Every word thats consistantly said is in the dictionary.
She also gave an example, A chinese person who is learning english and is around people who don't say 'ain't' simply doesn't need to know what ain't means. Then let say that she is around people who say ain't and hears it.
She doesn't want to ask, thinking she might be thought stupid, so she looked in the dictionary and looked it up.

This is what she says, I think once a sound is said its a word. sweatdrop  

[Mav_X]

Jasmine Landers

Well, I am a literate southern girl and I see nothing wrong with the word ain't at all. I use it quite often.

That's my view as well. I'm from the south as well, Georgia to be exact, and I use the words "ain't" and "y'all" all the time. It's simply part of our dialect. Both are in the Webster's dictionary anyway. I do, however, believe that those words should be reserved for speech and I never use them in writing (except for when I'm sending emails).  

[Daemon_King]

Pish-Posh

I asked my reading teacher and she said the dictionary isn't really used for proper words.
It is for words.Every word thats consistantly said is in the dictionary.
She also gave an example, A chinese person who is learning english and is around people who don't say 'ain't' simply doesn't need to know what ain't means. Then let say that she is around people who say ain't and hears it.
She doesn't want to ask, thinking she might be thought stupid, so she looked in the dictionary and looked it up.

This is what she says, I think once a sound is said its a word. sweatdrop

The Russian Azboka, or alphabet, has some letter made from the Russains grunts or groans.  

[Janet Vice- I mean Weiss]

I think it would be considered 'slang'. Just not a proper conjunction (Is that the right word? I can't even remember- HS was 9 years ago.)