Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 21:34:52 -0800

From: Dan Alford dalford[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]S1.CSUHAYWARD.EDU

Subject: Re: "All-purpose tag ain' so?



Thomas Clark writes:

Is this the same as "i'nnit" in various British productions: "It's the

same over there as here, innit?"



"innit" is a very interesting construction, and the favorite, all-purpose tag-Q

in the Cheyenne dialect of English. Except in CDE, the phrase has lost all

vestiges of the 3rd person singular base, so you can get statements such as

"you're goin' up north, innit?" or even "we're going tomorrow night, innit?".

This seems to be the equivalent of the equally frozen French expression

n'est-ce-pas (sp?).

-- Moonhawk (%- )

"The fool on the hill sees the sun going down and

the eyes in his head see the world spinning round"

-- McCartney/Lennon