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Does using the word ain’t in a song make it slang, whereas using it in a speech make it colloquial?

RegDwigнt
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ReRe
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    What do you mean by those two words? What do you consider “slang”, and what do you consider “colloquial”? – tchrist Dec 20 '12 at 16:06
  • I'm doing an English Language investigation and trying to pick out slang, "homie", and colloquial, "bunch of" from a song – ReRe Dec 20 '12 at 16:11
  • Probably exact duplicate, and related: http://english.stackexchange.com/q/668 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/179 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/1327 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/33119 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/79906 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/77291 – tchrist Dec 20 '12 at 16:13
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    @Teresa: The question is - how do you define the difference between "slang" and "colloquial"? They cover an overlapping range, so placing ain't on the scale still requires us to know where you draw the line, otherwise all you'll get is other people's definitions of where one ends and the other starts. – FumbleFingers Dec 20 '12 at 16:14
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    Why would it be slang if it were in a song but colloquial if it were in speech? – tchrist Dec 20 '12 at 16:16
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    Also related: What's the difference between “informal”, “colloquial”, “slang”, and “vulgar”? – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Dec 20 '12 at 16:19
  • I was really confused but think I've got it now... I was just wondering if the register of the word changed if it was said deliberately – ReRe Dec 20 '12 at 16:20
  • I can't remember the last time I said "ain't" by accident ... – MetaEd Dec 20 '12 at 16:22
  • I think the vital distinction here is that raised by Karl's answer to the question linked by Cerberus: slang "is usually restricted to a group of peers. This could be a small group or a large group. They could be from very different places and backgrounds. Slang is formed more through mutual understanding and often to intentionally create an element of exclusivity." Slang is the speech of an in-group; it is almost always colloquial, but relatively little that is colloquial is also slang. – StoneyB on hiatus Dec 20 '12 at 17:50
  • I thought that a Sociolect is the speech of an in-group... But yes, i understand that ain't is a colloquialism – ReRe Dec 20 '12 at 18:02

3 Answers3

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It's colloquial.

From your comments about register, you seem to be talking about affecting a colloquialism.

If a songwriter who would naturally use the word in speaking their own dialect, or if it is written from the perspective of a narrator-character who would use it, then it's still a colloquialism.

Now, if a conservative politician who generally used a very formal register and whose background was such that ain't wouldn't come naturally to them, said in a speech "you ain't seen nothing yet", then that would still be a colloquialism. The difference is that it's affected rather than just coming naturally.

And I could just about conceive that happening in a song, though I'd be surprised.

It still ain't slang.

Edit: For that matter, some might argue that since it's "colloquial" to more places than it isn't "colloquial" to, that it's not really colloquial at all, but that gets into more complicated issues about what does and doesn't get to considered "standard".

Jon Hanna
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As far as I know, "ain't" is a colloquialism and is frowned upon by quite a few native speakers as 'nonstandard'. But I don't think it is considered slang anywhere. Then again, there isn't much difference between colloquialism and slang, is there?

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The OED labels ain’t as “dialectic and colloquial”. It is certainly not slang. They also mention that it is in “general informal use”.

So it is not formal. It is extremely common, however, in some dialects and registers.

tchrist
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