Sentence fragments II

In deference to Wednesday’s post on it’s not versus it isn’t,* I threw out the potential compromise of it’sn’t.   It turns out, courtesy of languagehat, that there actually once was a common contraction of the two: ’tisn’t.

That’s so much cooler sounding than mine.


* On a related note, there’s a forty page research paper on this issue: “It’s not” or “isn’t it”? Using large corpora to determine the influences on contraction strategies by Yaeger-Dror, Hall-Lew, and Decker.   With graphs!

Awesome.


Speaking of out-of-date contractions, behold the following excerpt from the Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation. It’s from Major Monogram’s retooling of Frosty the Snowman as a platypus-themed adventure carol.   (With some kick-ass spy music, I might add.)

Chorus: Look at that platypus, look at that platypus, look at that platypus go! Look at that platypus, look at that platypus flying o’er the snow!

Carl: “O’er,” sir?

Major: It’s a contraction.   It means “over.”

Carl: It’s a bit archaic.

Major: It’s traditional.   Get o’er it.

If you want to listen to the whole thing, head over to YouTube.

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