It Ain't a Problem for Me

Here it is, another day, another post on what is and is not “real” in the world of writing.

Sometimes it’s the oxford comma. I can take it or leave it, so long as the meaning is clear. Sometimes the meaning is clear because of the ridiculousness of the alternative in context. Silly me, I trust my readers and fellow humans of brain-having to be able to figure that stuff out.

Today, it is “ain’t”. “Is ‘ain’t’ a word?”, a metric ton of posts and memes call out to me. Well, let’s see. It is a series of syllables with a known and discernible meaning, which can and is used widely in a language.

Seems like a word to me.

All my snark aside, the question that is REALLY being asked is, “is ain’t ‘legit’?”. The larger question is, what, as writers, do we “allow” as REAL, TRUE, and LEGITIMATE in our language.
And that’s so elitist.

Let me break this down.

Historically, “ain’t” is an actual word that was used as proper English for quite some time. Po’ peeps picked it up and BOOM! It’s “just” slang and illegitimate, now.

Regionally, “ain’t” tends towards conservative areas with high poverty and low education. Also, some trend towards areas with high non-white demographics.

Linguistically, the English language, like all living (not dead) languages shifts, grows and changes with use. People LIKE to come up with new ways of saying things, adding depth and nuance to their meanings. Because there is a subtle emotional difference between scary and terrifying. This means that there are colloquialisms and regional dialects. “Proper” English tends towards East coast and upper class.

Saying “ain’t” isn’t a word is classist. It’s racist. It discriminates by region, generation, and education.

Plus, writing only in “proper” English comes across as pretentious, pompous and pedantic. See what I just did there. You may have to look this crap up, now. :P

If you are a literary writer, well, everyone has their own thing. I don’t like reading OR writing literary fiction. Unless it’s science journals and other non-fiction. For my fiction, I love genre fiction. Easy reading, yes, but then there is more possibility to engage in emotional metaphors, satirical social commentary, etc. because people don’t really necessarily want to dedicate brain space to grand philosophies AND grandiose language at the same time. Not for entertainment reading.

Plus, it’s hard to convey universal experiences when you write like an East Coast Prep School Silver-spooning Yacht-sailing Trust-funded… person. Just my thoughts.