In Defense of Ain't

Elizabethan Literature

They say that ain't just ain't a word

But that ain't true it's just absurd

Among some snobs it ain't preferred

But we ain't stopping 'cause we're slurred

"Ain't I" is wrong says the big shot

"Aren't I" he says just hits the spot

Abbreviating "are I not"

But that ain't right, it's "am I not"

The Canterbury Tales

The whole idea is snobbery

It's just linguistic mockery

Language belongs to you and me

Not some exclusive franchisee

It just ain't right to disrespect

Or vilify and then reject

A word with meaning and effect

And used in Chaucer's dialect