ain't like I ...

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GUEST2008

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Hi

One guy says that he doesn't go to the library, he doesn't watch TV, doesn't go to the cinema. He says: I prefer to stay at home. Ain't like I got nowhere to go.

Does it mean: It doesn't mean I've got nowhere to go OR just the opposite: Looks like I've got nowhere to go.
 

GUEST2008

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Hi

So he actually has somewhere to go?

thanks
 

mykwyner

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Yes. More simply, "I do have places to go."
 

Barb_D

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I disagree.

He says at home because he has nowhere to go. It's a non-standard double negation, just like his "ain't" is not standard either. I assume the person is not supposed to be very well educated?

Typical tv/movie speech patterns for non-educated characters:
I don't know nothing about that = I don't know anything about that. = I know nothing about that.
I ain't got nothing more to say about that = I don't have anything more to say = I have nothing more to say.

I ain't got nowhere to go =I don't have anywhere to go = I have nowhere to go. (That's why I stay home.)
 

GUEST2008

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I was thinking about this double negation.

So actually he has nowhere to go :)

Good to know.
 

mykwyner

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First of all, the use of non-standard English is not an indicator of a poor education. Many English speakers, myself included, are capable of switching registers depending on the situation.

Second of all, this is not a case of double negation. Substitute isn't for ain't and the sentence still has the same meaning.

Standard English: It is not as if I had nowhere to go.

The phrase, "I got nowhere to go," is negated by the phrase, "It ain't like," which creates the meaning, "I do have somewhere to go."
 

Raymott

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I agree with Barb. It's more likely to be a double negation. But either way, it doesn't make sense to me. The previous sentences describe neither a person with nowhere to go, nor a person with lots of places to go.
 

mykwyner

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In the regional dialect used where I live (southeastern United States) the meaning of this statement is clear to me.

"I do have places to go, but I prefer to stay home."
 

birdeen's call

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In the regional dialect used where I live (southeastern United States) the meaning of this statement is clear to me.

"I do have places to go, but I prefer to stay home."
And I think it wouldn't have made any sense if he'd meant, "I don't have any place to go." If he'd meant that, he wouldn't have said that he preferred to stay home. What for? His preference wouldn't have mattered. He must have meant what mykwyner suggests I think.
 

bhaisahab

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And I think it wouldn't have made any sense if he'd meant, "I don't have any place to go." If he'd meant that, he wouldn't have said that he preferred to stay home. What for? His preference wouldn't have mattered. He must have meant what mykwyner suggests I think.
I agree, I would read it like mykwyner.
 

Barb_D

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Well, I don't either.

If the original line had been "Ain't like I got nowhere to go, but I ain't got no way to get there" I would have certainly agreed that it meant that he DOES have places to go but no way to get there. Or he cold have said "Ain't like I got nowhere to go, but I ain't got any way to get there" and I still would have been on board.

But the original post said he stayed home all the time and said "Ain't like I got nowhere to go" with no further information. Situationally, I infer he's got nowhere to go!

I maintain that it was typical Hollywood speech for the non-standard double negative, not the INTENTIONAL double negative. In movies/TV "I don't know nothing to say about that" or "I ain't got nothing to say about that" ALMOST NEVER mean "I know something" or "I have something to say." It means "I don't know anything" or "I don't have anything to say." The very use of "ain't" (which, by the way, I do use in real life in speech but not in writing) in a Hollywood production signals "uneducated." The non-standard double negative is the only thing that seems logical given these facts.
 

bhaisahab

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I am not an American (as you all know) but I have read a lot of Cormac McCarthy; most of his books are set in Texas, on the border with Mexico. A lot of his characters "speak" like that and if the meaning is not as mykwyner and I think it is, I have misunderstood a lot of what I have read.
 
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e2e4

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Hi

One guy says that he doesn't go to the library, he doesn't watch TV, doesn't go to the cinema. He says: I prefer to stay at home.(Shouldn't it have been said "I prefer staying at home."?) Ain't like I got nowhere to go.
I prefer staying at home, even though it is not that I have nowhere to go.
Is this correct?
First of all, the use of non-standard English is not an indicator of a poor education.:up: Many English speakers, myself included, are capable of switching registers depending on the situation.

Second of all, this is not a case of double negation.:up: Substitute isn't for ain't and the sentence still has the same meaning.

Standard English: It is not as if I had nowhere to go.

The phrase, "I got nowhere to go," is negated by the phrase, "It ain't like," which creates the meaning, "I do have somewhere to go."

I am not clear with why you didn't say "this is not the case of double negation" instead of "this is not a case of double negation".

Thanks
 

Raymott

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I guess there's a lesson in here somewhere.
One lesson would be that, if you want to be understood internationally, you should speak standard English.
If you want to cause disagreements among your listeners as to whether you did anything, say "I didn't do nothing" or "I ain't done nothing" etc.
 

mykwyner

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I am not clear with why you didn't say "this is not the case of double negation" instead of "this is not a case of double negation".

e2e4:

There are many cases of double negation, therefore we use the indefinite article a. If I had said the case of double negation, it would imply that there is only one.

I've known non-native English speakers from eastern Europe who have lived in America for over fifty years (including my grandparents) and have never mastered the use of definite and indefinite articles in English. The rules are complex and inconsistent. My recommendation to you is to pay attention to native speakers, keep practicing and asking questions.
 

chevalier

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--Not a teacher--
Barb_D, sorry, but I cannot agree with you. I would understand it as "it is not that I got nowhere to go". Double negation? Not in this case. "Ain't like I got nowhere to go" and "I ain't got nowhere to go" are quite different.
And, considering the first sentence ("I prefer to stay ay home"), the only solution that I can think of is something like "I have some places to go, but I prefer to stay home". Anything else is illogical.
Cheers.
 

5jj

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I originally read it as Barb did. However, having re-read it (and the whole thread), I have changed my mind, For me the clincher is 'I prefer to stay at home'. Having already said that he doesn't go to the cinema or to the library, it is clear that he does know of places to go, so he is highly unlikely to say that he has not got anywhere to go.
 
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