aren't
(ˈɑːnt)
colloq. form of are not and am not (chiefly in standard interrogative use: aren't I? = ‘am not I?’). Cf. an't.
| 1794 Ar'n't [see be v. A. 1 1–3 ¶ ]. 1810 [see undecent a. 3]. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton I. xiii. 233 Come! Mary, ar'n't you ready? 1872 [see skilligalee 1]. 1907 Lady Grove Social Fetich 38 If ‘ain't I?’ is objected to, surely ‘aren't I?’ is very much worse. 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) ii. 71 And they're a very rich order, aren't they, Simon? 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby vii. 143 Aren't we going to let any one smoke a cigarette first? 1934 Dylan Thomas Let. 2 May (1966) 117 The first thing I would do..would be to peep, with a nasty aren't-I-a-lad expression, into the pages. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) ii. 44 ‘Oh, Christ!’ Kelly moaned. ‘Aren't I telling you I aren't deserting you?’ 1955 Sci. Amer. Aug. 78/3 Comic strips and some other contemporary literature (literachoor) recognize the prevalence of these forms in speech by spelling them that way: aintcha, arentcha, betcha, etc. 1977 Private Eye 15 Apr. 14/1 Aren'tcha sick to death of the cold weather?? 1982 N.Y. Times 9 June b1/6 But these young men aren't fighting for mere real estate. |