Use determines the law of language, whether for single words, grammatical forms, or grammatical constructions. Wherever a people, by common consent, employ a particular word to mean a certain thing, that word becomes an inherent part of the language of that people, whether it has any basis in etymology or not. We must not wrest this law to our own convenience, however, by assuming that such words and phrases as are introduced and employed by the illiterate, or even by the educated, within a circumscribed territory, are, therefore, to be regarded as reputable words. The sanction of all classes, the educated as well as the uneducated, throughout the entire country in which the language is spoken, is necessary and preliminary to the proper introduction of a new word into the language.
Ain’t
This word is a contraction of am not or are not, and can, therefore, be used only with the singular pronouns I and you, and with the plural pronouns we, you, and they, and with nouns in the plural.
I am not pleased. I ain’t pleased.
You are not kind. You ain’t kind.
They are not gentlemen. They ain’t gentlemen.
These sentences will serve to illustrate the proper use of ain’t, if it is ever proper to use such an inelegant word as that. “James ain’t a good student,” “Mary ain’t a skillful musician,” or “This orange ain’t sweet,” are expressions frequently heard, yet those who use them would be shocked to hear the same expressions with the proper equivalent am not or are not substituted for the misleading ain’t.
The expression ain’t is compounded of the verb am or are and the adverb not, and by the contraction the three vocal impulses I-am-not, or you-are-not, or they-are-not, are reduced to two. By compounding the pronoun with the verb and preserving the full adverb, as in “I’m not,” “You’re not,” “They’re not,” we also reduce the three vocal impulses to two, thus securing as short a contraction in sound and one that is as fully adapted to colloquial speech, and that is, at the same time, in much better taste.
The old form for ain’t was an’t, but this has now become obsolete. It will be a blessing to the English-speaking people when the descendant shall sleep with his father.
Are not is sometimes contracted into aren’t, but this form has not found much favor.