Period or Question Mark

Don't worry, Dick.

It's when you can't remember the old songs...then, you have a problem.

Speaking of punctuation and such, Brew used the word, "ain't". I love that word. Use it all the time. But I've always been puzzled by it. Clearly the n't is a contraction of "not", such as in the word, "aren't", meaning "are not". But where does the "ai" come from from?

Hi, Gary, and welcome to the board!

I've often wondered about that 'ain't' question myself. The American Heritage dictionary has this to say...

But while don't and won't eventually became accepted at all levels of speech and writing, ain't
was to receive a barrage of criticism in the 19th century for having no
set sequence of words from which it can be contracted and for being a
"vulgarism," that is, a term used by the lower classes, although an't at least had been originally used by the upper classes as well.

It is used extensively when double negatives come into play - ie:"I ain't got no money."

It comes from 'out there,' the same mystical region that changes wash to worsh.

Quote :

It comes from 'out there,' the same region that changes wash to worsh.

Down hyer is more likely, Brenda. We also use 'cain't', when can't is available.

Phil Whitley wrote:

Hi, Gary, and welcome to the board!

I've often wondered about that 'ain't' question myself. The American Heritage dictionary has this to say...

But while don't and won't eventually became accepted at all levels of speech and writing, ain't
was to receive a barrage of criticism in the 19th century for having no
set sequence of words from which it can be contracted and for being a
"vulgarism," that is, a term used by the lower classes, although an't at least had been originally used by the upper classes as well.

It is used extensively when double negatives come into play - ie:"I ain't got no money."

Ah, then I should be using an't because I am definitely upper class. Ain't I?

Brenda Hill wrote:

It comes from 'out there,' the same mystical region that changes wash to worsh.

Of course! I should have known since "out there" is where I spend a majority of my time.

And what about rinse to rinch? I'd never heard of rinch before my girlfriend told me her mother used that form of the word. Her mother grew up in Missouri. So I guess Missouri must be located "out there".

How about it started out as regional slang? Is that possible?

Phil Whitley wrote:

Quote :

It comes from 'out there,' the same region that changes wash to worsh.

Down hyer is more likely, Brenda. We also use 'cain't', when can't is available.

Man, Brew! I just read the rave reviews of Keechie and then I went to your website and read the first chapter. Seems like a terrific read. I definitely gotta save my pennies for that one!

I read on your amazon blog where you talked about writing in dialect and how some people say it shouldn't be done. Personally, I think it does get to be a bit hard to read if there is dialog between two or more people and all of it is written in dialect. But in the case of Keechie I must say I found it to be a very effective way to bring out her character and personality. It adds a certain depth to her as an individual that I don't think would otherwise be there with just simple descriptions of her manner of speech. I found it to be absolutely delightful. I felt like I could actually hear her voice!

Wow, Gary, that is a great review in itself! Thanks for the kind words.

It's synchronistically funny... I also went immediately to your website
and read your prologue and sample chapter - and was hooked! I may write
historical fiction, but what I read is mostly sci-fi and everything
Whitley Streiber has written, along with books like The Bible Code, The
Hiram Key, and authors such as Graham Hancock, Zecharia Sitchin, Lloyd
Pye, Andy Lloyd... among many others.

Looks like I will be adding another to the list!

Phil Whitley wrote:

Wow, Gary, that is a great review in itself! Thanks for the kind words.

It's synchronistically funny... I also went immediately to your website
and read your prologue and sample chapter - and was hooked! I may write
historical fiction, but what I read is mostly sci-fi and everything
Whitley Streiber has written, along with books like The Bible Code, The
Hiram Key, and authors such as Graham Hancock, Zecharia Sitchin, Lloyd
Pye, Andy Lloyd... among many others.

Looks like I will be adding another to the list!

Well, I don't know if I deserve to be on THAT list! Yikes, those are the big guys! LOL But thanks!

And speaking of synchronicity (which abounds in The Ezekiel Code, by the way) I couldn't help but notice your last name is Strieber's first name.

It also occurred to me that you're down there in the area where those fellows claim to have the body of a Bigfoot in a freezer. Have you been following that story? I hope it doesn't turn out to be just another hoax.

Yep, I am in Clayton County where those bigfoot guys call home.
According to George Noory at Coast to Coast am, the story is 99% hoax,
I'm sorry to say.

Other than the original headline story, the local papers have been totally silent on the issue.

Phil Whitley wrote:

Yep, I am in Clayton County where those bigfoot guys call home.
According to George Noory at Coast to Coast am, the story is 99% hoax,
I'm sorry to say.

Other than the original headline story, the local papers have been totally silent on the issue.

Yup, I heard the news that it seems to be a hoax. I was afraid of that. As the story was unfolding it started to remind me of the "Alien-in-the-freezer" hoax perpetrated by "Dr. Jonathan Reed" (a fake name) several years ago. Remember that one?

My first feeling that it was a hoax was when they sent in those 3 DNA samples... if you have a body the DNA could come later.

Or we have a human/possum hybrid...