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Double and triple contractions

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I came across an interesting discussion on Reddit today, discussing double and triple contractions in the English language. The discussion referenced this wikipedia page. I can only recall encountering single contractions, e.g. don't, won't, etc. Are these multiple contractions legitimate English?

Here is a link to the reddit discussion too.
 
My belief is that if you allow a single-character contraction at all (e.g., "would've"), then it is reasonable for a double- (e.g., "wouldn't've"), or triple-character (e.g., "'twoudn't've") (or even more) contraction.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
 
I wouldn't consider them proper written English, but I've certainly used a few of them when speaking. :)

Annihilannic
[small]tgmlify - code syntax highlighting for your tek-tips posts[/small]
 
Contractions are a method of allowing written English to reflect accepted spoken English. Many other languages do not accommodate contractions, and other languages do accommodate contractions (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German).

If one wants to know how stilted spoken English sounds when the speaker does not use contractions, just watch an episode of N.C.I.S. (Naval Criminal Investigative Service for those without (American) TV). The character Ziva (depicting a Israeli ex-Mossad operative) never uses contractions in her spoken English.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
 
==> Are these multiple contractions legitimate English?
In my opinion, Legitimate? Yes. Proper? No. Standard? Not yet.

English is a descriptive language, not a prescriptive language; therefore, standards change as prevalent usage changes. What people use to successfully communicate determines what is and is not legitimate. As a particular usage becomes more prevalent, it becomes accepted and standardized. Over over time, if usage continues, it becomes ingrained in the "proper" language. It's how the language evolves.


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it is the ability of the language to accept this type of on the fly modification that makes English such a sophisticated language.

As an example the now common word transistor is a perfectly meaningfully English word (an contraction of Transfer Resistor, which describes what it does).

The rules of other languages do not allow words to be created like this.

Computers are like Air conditioners:-
Both stop working when you open Windows
 
IPGuru said:
it is the ability of the language to accept this type of on the fly modification that makes English such a sophisticated language.

As an example the now common word transistor is a perfectly meaningfully English word (an contraction of Transfer Resistor, which describes what it does).

I believe "transister" is a portmanteau, not a contraction.

And I agree that it does show a great deal of sophistication and has allowed the creation of impressive and memorable new words. All hail the Spork!

[bigsmile]

 
SamBones said:
I believe "transister" is a portmanteau, not a contraction.
I believe a "transister" is a nun that has gone through gender re-assignment.


[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
 
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