new topic: words I just happened to stumble upon

you really dasn't do that.

So, confess now. How many people caught my pun?

ya know, that wasn't the link I *intended to put there. but.

Be that as it may, can anyone shed some light on this cutting edge topic?

So, confess now. How many people caught my pun?

I'm not sure we're sharp enough...

Quote:

So, confess now. How many people caught my pun?

Yogi Berra couldn't catch that pun.

ya old skinflint...

I'm rather fond of "dasn't" (altho I have heard it "daren't", as well). It may be a regionalism but Twain used it and a lot of people in a lot of regions read Twain and it maybe cudda spread a bit that way. It has a rather antique flavour to it but, when concocting a sentence that would benefit from a dose of antiquity, it isn't a bad choice.

Arthur Miller's "dast," from the eulogy at the end of Salesman the same verb?

my dueling links, above, prolly confused some, so here is an excerpt regarding dast:

Quote:

It seemed uniquely appropriate to check for information about this particular word in the Dictionary of American Regional English (known commonly and affectionately as "DARE"), where their attestations list several indicative, nonnegative, uncontracted forms of dare that are relevant for us. These include darst, dast, darse, dass, and das. The last two, used before an infinitive, are said to "have evidently lost the final -t by assimilation to the following to. Thus DARE's citations include both "Don't reckon we dast venture into them mountains till it's over" (Moody, 1956) and "Solomon didn' das' ter let on 'bout w'at he 'spicioned" (Chessnut, Conjure Woman, 1899). The DARE editors postulate that these positive forms probably represent a "back-formation from the negative da(r)sn't."

ip, you can read the whole enchilada by clicking on but in my previous.

Good heavens, language hat is a person? I'd had the idea the name was a web site!
Anyway--I've known about dasn't for just about all my life, I reckon. I was thinking it was in one of the Uncle Remus stories, and it may be, but all I felt like trying to look up was The Tar Baby, and it's not in there.
I did find a link with what is probably the original spellings; some of you may enjoy trying to decipher what is being said.
The Tar-Baby

"'Spectubble" OK, but "segashuate"??

I guess I just don't blikkel English after all.