Ain't still ain't a word

This past week I observed two instances where everyday people were interviewed about their circumstances. One about the Iowa floods and one about a court verdict he didn't agree with. Both of the interviewees knew they were talking to reporters and knew their comments would likely get some air.

The first, a 20-something Iowa farm girl, noted that "It ain't fair" that these floods have caused such hardship. The second, a 30ish man commented in anger that "it ain't right" when the verdict went against his friend in a kidnapping/torture case.

Now most of us grew up knowing and frequently hearing that "Ain't" is not a word. That is not really true, of course, and die hard users will point to the dictionary where "ain't" does appear, never mind that the entry goes on to say 'colloquial" or "non-standard English".

So, snob that I have been accused of being, when I hear "ain't" used, I cringe and develop a vision of the uneducated. This may be unfair to some, but criminy, there cannot be one American that, when asked, would know that "ain't" is not acceptable. Especially in an interview. On television. In front of God and everyone.

OK, there are far worse things these days, but maybe if we could pick at a few easy ones, we might make some progress in cleaning up the language. Oh, them were the days.