40 Years..

[Plow]

That doesn't make it a contraction. It is cutting out one letter in the middle of a word. A contraction is not one single word.

contraction
One entry found.

contraction

Main Entry:
con·trac·tion Listen to the pronunciation of contraction
Pronunciation:
\k?n-?trak-sh?n\
Function:
noun
Date:
15th century

1 a: the action or process of contracting : the state of being contracted b: the shortening and thickening of a functioning muscle or muscle fiber c: a reduction in business activity or growth
2: a shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of a sound or letter; also : a form produced by such shortening
— con·trac·tion·al Listen to the pronunciation of contractional \-shn?l, -sh?-n?l\ adjective
— con·trac·tive Listen to the pronunciation of contractive Listen to the pronunciation of contractive \k?n-?trak-tiv, ?kän-?\ adjective
— con·trac·tion·ary Listen to the pronunciation of contractionary \k?n-?trak-sh?-?ner-?\ adjective

Fine, I'll concede the point on o'clock. But ma'am is most certainly a contraction involving no verb.

Ok, there's one exception, and it kind of falls under a similar category to y'all of being basically a mispronunciation that becomes accepted.

Although it's not exactly a shortening of madam really, as it tends to serve a different purpose and basically be a word of its own. It's just kind of a different sound, and while you may still here madam used in situations where ma'am would be the common word, madam is for the most part now used to describe position while ma'am is used to address.

For example, you *might* hear someone say "madam, may I help you?" but you won't hear someone say "Heidi Fleiss, Holywood ma'am."

[Plow]

fo'c'sle (forecastle)

bo's'un (also simply bosun, from the english "boatswain")

fo'c'sle
No entries found that match fo'c'sle.
Here is a list of similar words.
7 entries found.

Can't even get anything to come up for bo's'un, as it's simply spelled out mispronunciation. (as is fo'c'sle)

ne'er (never)

e'er (ever)

Again, your serve. :nikkei:

ne'er and e'er are not words, they are parts of phrases involving hyphens forming nouns of their own

ne'er-do-well


more please

[Melchiah]

You are using two entirely different definitions of madam(e). One is a term of respect for a lady. The other is polite terminology for a distasteful profession. You can't really compare the two. And according to the M-W entry, a contraction is any shortening of a word that becomes accepted as part of the language, regardless of how it is shortened.

Ain't may well be a contraction, but it breaks a lot of grammar rules. Are and am not I can see, sort of. However I don't understand the spelling. I am forced to conclude that ain't was a colloquialism among the lower class that managed to get spread around and bastardized to include all forms of be. I aint, you aint, he aint, we aint, they aint, it aint... etc. Did we take the first letter from am/are and is and then put them together and put the contracted form of not on the end to arrive at ain't? Maybe, but I'll always believe the verbal came first and a spelling was forced onto it. It's still a word most associate with the uneducated and/or lower classes.

And I have a few more exceptions to your rule.

[Plow]

You are using two entirely different definitions of madam(e). One is a term of respect for a lady. The other is polite terminology for a distasteful profession. You can't really compare the two. And according to the M-W entry, a contraction is any shortening of a word that becomes accepted as part of the language, regardless of how it is shortened.

a. Madam also means the female head of a household, regardless of if it's a whorehouse. Ma'am... really doesn't, it's basically purely an address.

And it's amazing you can end one paragraph harping on how anything that shortens a word, no matter how, is a contraction, then immediately go into this...

Ain't may well be a contraction, but it breaks a lot of grammar rules. Are and am not I can see, sort of. However I don't understand the spelling. I am forced to conclude that ain't was a colloquialism among the lower class that managed to get spread around and bastardized to include all forms of be. I aint, you aint, he aint, we aint, they aint, it aint... etc. Did we take the first letter from am/are and is and then put them together and put the contracted form of not on the end to arrive at ain't? Maybe, but I'll always believe the verbal came first and a spelling was forced onto it. It's still a word most associate with the uneducated and/or lower classes.

You mean... just like every exception example you've tried to give here?

And I have a few more exceptions to your rule.

I got a piece of that says they're all pretty much exactly like ain't.


Edit: anyway, I could care less at this point. My whole point is that the English language is one giant bastardization, and while I hate the stupid repetitive mistakes that constantly occur among the uninformed, language would not, well, exist, if people were not allowed to create new words. This forum wouldn't be too entertaining if every word was fire or notfire.

[Melchiah]

Noun 1. fo'c'slefo'c'sle - living quarters consisting of a superstructure in the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed
forecastle
living quarters, quarters - housing available for people to live in; "he found quarters for his family"; "I visited his bachelor quarters"
ship - a vessel that carries passengers or freight

bo·sun (bsn)
n.
Variant of boatswain.

I've tried really hard to bite my tongue and not be rude with you Plow, but now I don't care anymore. You are really starting to deviate from discussion into just plain being an asshole. I agreed that ain't is a contraction, but that I couldn't determine what root words were supposed to be included. Am/are, which are the "accepted" root words for ain't do not agree with the subjects it and he/she, but you sure see ain't used with them. Therefore, it's wrong, accepted or not. Either the definition needs to change, or the spelling of the word needs to change. Subject-verb agreement > common usage.

This discussion on contractions has been nice, but is still largely irrelevant to the topic of irregardless being incorrect. After all of this, irregardless still means without without regard to, and completely ignores accepted grammatical rules. So there is your princess.

[Plow]

Noun 1. fo'c'slefo'c'sle - living quarters consisting of a superstructure in the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed
forecastle
living quarters, quarters - housing available for people to live in; "he found quarters for his family"; "I visited his bachelor quarters"
ship - a vessel that carries passengers or freight

bo·sun (bsn)
n.
Variant of boatswain.

I've tried really hard to bite my tongue and not be rude with you Plow, but now I don't care anymore. You are really starting to deviate from discussion into just plain being an asshole. I agreed that ain't is a contraction, but that I couldn't determine what root words were supposed to be included. Am/are, which are the "accepted" root words for ain't do not agree with the subjects it and he/she, but you sure see ain't used with them. Therefore, it's wrong, accepted or not. Either the definition needs to change, or the spelling of the word needs to change. Subject-verb agreement > common usage.

This discussion on contractions has been nice, but is still largely irrelevant to the topic of irregardless being incorrect. After all of this, irregardless still means without without regard to, and completely ignores accepted grammatical rules. So there is your princess.

All those are is the same thing as y'all, simply mispronunciation (guess who generally by? the uneducated lower working class of the 1400's... much better than the, oh, pretty much everyone in America today that uses the word ain't)

You can talk all the shit you want about ain't, but it's already been accepted due to common usage as a word. Irregardless is similarly regarded (lol ucwutididthar) as ain't was a few years ago, and may or may not be eventually accepted by the "language gods."


And I'm hurt, seriously and perhaps permanently, by the guy that's tried to call people stupid in pretty much every single post he's made in this thread deciding I'm being an asshole when he just can't prove me wrong.

[Melchiah]

Bud, you got butthurt after I made the statement that I associate people who act like the ignorant with the ignorant. Sounds like you might be guilty.

Do you really think I'm the only person who looks down on people who cannot speak English correctly despite having no reasonable excuse? I just happen to not be nice enough to ignore it and go laugh at you when I'm all by myself.

I never made this discussion about any one person. You got butthurt and made the thread about me, because I said something you didn't like.

My first post was an illustration of how people who have some education view those who speak as though they do not, and this is where your ass became chapped. So now I'm curious at this point. Have you been to college, or even try to pay attention in English class in middle school? I'm not looking for something to bash you with, as I don't really care if you went to school or not. I'm just curious as to your level of education and your age. I have my suspicions, just looking for some confirmation.

[Plow]

Bud, you got butthurt after I made the statement that I associate people who act like the ignorant with the ignorant. Sounds like you might be guilty.

Do you really think I'm the only person who looks down on people who cannot speak English correctly despite having no reasonable excuse? I just happen to not be nice enough to ignore it and go laugh at you when I'm all by myself.

I never made this discussion about any one person. You got butthurt and made the thread about me, because I said something you didn't like.

My first post was an illustration of how people who have some education view those who speak as though they do not, and this is where your ass became chapped. So now I'm curious at this point. Have you been to college, or even try to pay attention in English class in middle school? I'm not looking for something to bash you with, as I don't really care if you went to school or not. I'm just curious as to your level of education and your age. I have my suspicions, just looking for some confirmation.

You came into a thread about Martin Luther King and started running your mouth about the uneducated and ignorant due to one silly word that doesn't matter at all.

I'm 25, in college, and I scored a 36 in English on my act's my sophomore year of high school.

Amazing how willfully ignorant you can be of the fact that I can speak perfectly and simply have an opinion about one word when it gives you a chance to tell yourself you're superior to someone.



I get it. It's not a proper word. The thing is, we're on the internet, and sometimes people have casual conversations where people aren't going to decide what they think of you as a person based on the language you use. Just because I think it's ok in certain situations to use improper language does not mean I'm some kind of moron that doesn't know how to talk. This thread is quite possibly the best example I've ever seen of the phrase "to assume makes an ass out of you and me."

Is it can be hugs tiem now?

[Melchiah]

I'm 25, in college, and I scored a 36 in English on my act's my sophomore year of high school.

Amazing how willfully ignorant you can be of the fact that I can speak perfectly and simply have an opinion about one word when it gives you a chance to tell yourself you're superior to someone.

Then you should know better than to use words like ain't and irregardless. That you wouldn't use a contraction like ain't on something you were going to turn in for a grade goes without saying, but you for sure wouldn't turn in a research paper or God forbid a thesis containing the word irregardless. Why not?

Hint: Because you would probably get butchered on your grade.

And why? I'll let you answer this last part.

You've leaked enough sand out of your vagina in this thread to build a sand castle, because you perceived that I called you ignorant. You grouped yourself in the category of people I referred to, not me. Here, have some and some :nikkei: to salve your chafed vagina.

I get it. It's not a proper word. The thing is, we're on the internet, and sometimes people have casual conversations where people aren't going to decide what they think of you as a person based on the language you use. Just because I think it's ok in certain situations to use improper language does not mean I'm some kind of moron that doesn't know how to talk. This thread is quite possibly the best example I've ever seen of the phrase "to assume makes an ass out of you and me."

Is it can be hugs tiem now?

Very well, agreed. Hugs and :nikkei: and and tiem.

[Mizango]

Holy shit balls.....


Zombie thread! What would Max Brooks do?

[BRP]

More memoriam threads need to start with cheesy song lyrics

[Rhinox]

uh... ok