Why would a native speaker say this?

Guest   Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:55 pm GMT
I heard a native speaker say "I does the shopping. You does the cooking"

Shouldn't it be or "I do the shopping, you do the cooking" or "I am shopping. You are cooking"?
guest   Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:02 pm GMT
You are correct.

The others are intentional errors used for effect.
guest   Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:03 pm GMT
<<The others are intentional errors used for effect.>>

...cont.

HOPEFULLY
Jasper   Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:17 pm GMT
That has been coined a "twirk"; a twirk is a deliberate misspelling, or grammatical error, made to draw attention.

It all started in the '60s with the hippies, who noticed that people listened to them a whole lot more, when their sentences were peppered with profanities.

Sometimes, whole books are written with literary twirks; the book "A Color Purple" might serve as one example.
Guest   Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:20 pm GMT
<<Sometimes, whole books are written with literary twirks; the book "A Color Purple" might serve as one example. >>

I wouldn't call those twirks. Those are representations of how English was actually spoken (misspoken) by poor southerners in that era.
guest   Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:36 pm GMT
<<I heard a native speaker say "I does the shopping. You does the cooking">>

It depends on how the speaker meant it.

I can picture it this way: as an allusion to the novel/movie Gone with the Wind, where the maid would say this. The native speaker was probably using this reference for comic/theatrical effect, almost playing the part of the maid.
guest   Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:37 pm GMT
similar to one saying: "Is you is, or is you ain't...?"
Guest   Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:52 am GMT
I've also heard people saying "I are" or "I aren't" quite normally, in a sentence...
Is that acceptable/ correct?
guest   Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:20 pm GMT
I aren't/...aren't I? *is* acceptable always, however, "ain't" is gaining ground on this prescriptionist form

the other: I are, unless done on purpose for effect, is incorrect
furrykef   Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:10 pm GMT
"I aren't" isn't acceptable unless it's for effect (and the only effect I can imagine in this case is a humorous one); the correct grammar is "I'm not". The inverted form "Aren't I?" *is* perfectly acceptable and very common, though, because "Amn't I?" sounds hopelessly awkward to most speakers (although I heard it's used somewhere... Ireland, maybe?)

- Kef
bigblue389   Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:29 pm GMT
Re: "I does the shopping. You does the cooking."
"Is you is, or is you ain't...?"
"Where you ats?"

These could all be examples of "Ebonics" ("ebony" + phonics"),
also known as "African American Vernacular English".

There was actually a course on this in Berkeley, California, USA (Cal State Berkeley).
bigblue389   Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:32 pm GMT
Also, some southerners (USA) talk this way regardless of race or color.
Guest   Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:32 pm GMT
"You is " . Is it ebonics as well?
El Conquistador   Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:41 am GMT
I always think the English language has a crazy pronunciation in many aspects.

Mist rhymes with list but doesn't with Christ. Why is it so?

If Christ has long i sound, then why isn't it in Christmas?
I don't think compound words change the real sounds.

The word Christmas is completely made wrong, because Christ mass should be.

"CRISMES" WOULD SEEM UNFAMILIAR IN THE ETYMOLOGY FOR THE REFORMED SPELLING.
Guest   Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:25 am GMT
<<The inverted form "Aren't I?" *is* perfectly acceptable and very common, though, because "Amn't I?" sounds hopelessly awkward to most speakers>>

Oh, didn't know about that. I thought "Am I not?" would be the (grammatically) correct way of saying it. Maybe both are OK?