Ain't ain't a word, and you ain't gonna use it.
This is a line I remember from my childhood, a line that embodies the odd feelings we English-speakers have towards this little word. This sentence is itself amusing, as it quite plainly contradicts itself, bringing to mind the self-referential sentences like This sentence is false explored by, among many others, Douglas Hofstadter (the reader is referred to the book Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.) But I digress. This usage commandment is quite a witty little line, as the contradiction therein illustrates so well people's feelings about the word: it is a word, as is evidenced quite plainly by its use in the sentence — and yet it ain't, and it certainly ain't appropriate for anyone with any modicum of intelligence or education. You are commanded not to use the word ain't — and yet…