I'm still smiling over Berit saying "ain't." We exchanged PM's, and I know she won't mind my talking about this here. Perhaps others will learn something too!

Berit speaks such good English, it's hard to tell she's not a native speaker. But I know she often mentions looking up obscure words in her dictionary.

The use of the word "ain't" is something that traditionally uneducated people use. When I was a child my teachers would often jokingly require us to pay money if they caught us using the word. Think of it like this... if Catspaw were talking to his son's teacher, he wouldn't dare use the word, but if he were talking to Paw or the Reg boys he would most assuredly use it in order to be understood.

It's used a lot in pop songs and movies, but is still considered inapproprite in educated talk or writing (except for empahsis.)

In keeping with the weather theme here, It Ain't Gonna Rain No More (3 instances of bad grammar...ain't, gonna, double negative...but I love it for emphasis.)