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Why is it "Honey Badger don't care!" and not "Honey Badger doesn't care!" ?

mightyuhu
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    Because it's meant to be pseudo-AAVE? – 3nafish Sep 08 '13 at 23:50
  • It's a book title - ask the author. No-one else can tell you why he/she chose that wording. Titles aren't sentences and don't necessarily follow standard rules of grammar. – TrevorD Sep 08 '13 at 23:50
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about why an author chose a particular book title - not about language. – TrevorD Sep 08 '13 at 23:52
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    It is also a well-known internet meme not only a book title – mightyuhu Sep 08 '13 at 23:54
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    @TrevorD Actually, I disagree. The poster is clearly unfamiliar with this sort of non-standard language. This is not some request for literary criticism. This is a simple English question, and it is more on topic than most that pass this way. – tchrist Sep 09 '13 at 00:02
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    If this mystifies the O.P., the O.P. may want to have a look at [ell.SE], especially for future questions. – J.R. Sep 09 '13 at 01:16
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    This question has been asked, and answered, many times before. I don't blame the OP as it is quite hard to search for this kind of questions, but I am surprised how many regulars are not aware this is a dupe of a dupe of a dupe. – RegDwigнt Sep 09 '13 at 08:43
  • Would "badger" be a legit plural? – rackandboneman Feb 15 '18 at 16:52

2 Answers2

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The reason why don't is is used in that title is that is imitates certain non-standard dialects of English, where don't can be used with the 3rd person singular. It is similar to the way people jocularly use ain't: it has a certain irony and force that can be appropriate for rhetorical or artistic effect.

As Az Za said, the title is based on the famous video of the honey badger, in which Randall makes funny yet educational remarks about the behaviour of the honey badger.

Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
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  • It's interesting that it's a regularization of the language: I/we don't, you don't, he/she/it don't. It's all don't. – dangph Sep 09 '13 at 03:21
  • @dangph: Exactly! Natural changes usually either work towards regularisation (like analogy), or away from it (usually through contraction). Both are frequent in language. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Sep 09 '13 at 05:21
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Note: Link contains a moderate level of vulgarity and strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Honey badger don't care is a verbatim quote from an online video. If anything, the appropriate notation would be "Honey badger don't care![sic]" since it is a direct quote.

Az Za
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