| 释义 |
wa'n't Now dial. (chiefly U.S.).|wɑːnt|
A contracted form of was not (cf. wasn't). Now only used, in literature, in representations of dialectal or vulgar speech. Cf. ain't, don't, etc.
1702Vanbrugh False Friend v. i, Who did you let in then? it wan't your Master, sure? 1757Foote Author Epilogue Wks. 1799 I. 129 Says Lady Bell..There wa'n't a creature there. 1893H. A. Shands Some Peculiarities of Speech in Mississippi 67 Want, Negro and illiterate white for was not or were not. 1929H. W. Odum in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 194/1 Wan't no hero, wan't no coward. 1942W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 144 Ah went to yo house last night, but you want dar. |