People are losing their command (if they ever had it) of the English language. Even global publications that have professional EDITORS are getting sloppy with all manner of mistakes (there / they’re / their, then / than, fill / feel, etc). It’s most evident on social media. For some reason people (especially young people) feel free when on social media to just butcher the language (e.g. “Imma gon bust yo ass mofo”).

In a way this bothers me worse than wars and famine because it makes me wonder if people are losing their intellect. And our intellect (from which rises our ability to reason) is all that separates us from the lesser animals. Anyway, here is a fairly exhaustive list of English contractions, because people are terribly misusing them as well. Most are legit, some are strictly colloquial. Some are rare, most are common. And I had no idea there were so many. Hope you’ins learn sumthin’. 😁

• a’ight = alright
• ain’t = am not, is not, are not, has not, have not, did not
• amn’t = am not
• aren’t = are not
• can’t = cannot
• couldn’t = could not
• couldn’t’ve = could not have
• could’ve = could have
• daren’t = dare not, dared not
• daresn’t = dare not
• dasn’t = dare not
• didn’t = did not
• doesn’t = does not
• don’t = do not, does not
• d’ye = do you/did you
• e’en = even
• e’er = ever
• everybody’s = everybody is
• everyone’s = everyone is
• fo’c’sle = forecastle
• g’day = good day
• giv’n = given
• gi’z = give us
• gon’t = go not
• hadn’t = had not
• had’ve = had have
• hasn’t = has not
• haven’t = have not
• he’d = he had, he would
• he’ll = he shall, he will
• here’s = here is
• he’s = he has, he is
• how’d = how did, how would
• how’ll = how will
• how’re = how are
• how’s = how has, how is, how does
• I’d = I had, I would
• I’d’nt = I would not
• I’d’nt’ve = I would not have
• I’d’ve = I would have
• I’ll = I shall, I will
• I’m = I am
• I’m’o = I am going to
• isn’t = is not
• it’d = it would
• it’ll = it shall, it will
• it’s = it has, it is
• I’ve = I have
• let’s = let us
• loven’t = love not
• ma’am = madam
• mayn’t = may not
• may’ve = may have
• mightn’t = might not
• might’ve = might have
• mustn’t = must not
• mustn’t’ve = must not have
• must’ve = must have
• needn’t = need not
• ne’er = never
• o’clock = of the clock
• o’er = over
• oughtn’t = ought not
• shalln’t = shall not
• shan’t = shall not
• she’d = she had, she would
• she’ll = she shall, she will
• she’s = she has, she is
• shouldn’t = should not
• shouldn’t’ve = should not have
• should’ve = should have
• somebody’s = somebody has, somebody is
• someone’s = someone has, someone is
• something’s = something has, something is
• so’re = so are
• that’d = that would, that had
• that’ll = that shall, that will
• that’re = that are
• that’s = that has, that is
• there’d = there had, there would
• there’ll = there shall, there will
• there’re = there are
• there’s = there has, there is
• these’re = these are
• these’ve = these have
• they’d = they had, they would
• they’ll = they shall, they will
• they’re = they are, they were
• they’ve = they have
• this’s = this has, this is
• those’re = those are
• those’ve = those have
• w’all = we all Scottish \Irish English
• wasn’t = was not
• we’d = we had, we would/ we did
• we’d’ve = we would have
• we’ll = we shall, we will
• we’re = we are
• weren’t = were not
• we’ve = we have
• what’d = what did
• what’ll = what shall, what will
• what’re = what are/what were
• what’s = what has, what is, what does
• what’ve = what have
• when’d = when did
• when’s = when has, when is
• where’d = where did
• where’ll = where shall, where will
• where’re = where are
• where’s = where has, where is, where does
• where’ve = where have
• which’d = which had, which would
• which’ll = which shall, which will
• which’re = which are
• which’s = which has, which is
• which’ve = which have
• who’d = who would, who had, who did
• who’d’ve = who would have
• who’ll = who shall, who will
• who’re = who are
• who’s = who has, who is, who does
• who’ve = who have
• why’d = why did
• why’re = why are
• why’s = why has, why is, why does
• willn’t = will not
• willn’t = will not
• won’t = will not
• wouldn’t = would not
• wouldn’t’ve = would not have
• would’ve = would have
• y’all = you all
• y’all’d’n’t’ve = you all would not have
• y’all’d’ve = you all would have
• y’all’re = you all are
• y’all’ren’t = you all are not
• y’at = you at
• yes’m = yes ma’am, yes madam
• y’know = you know
• you’d = you had, you would
• you’ll = you shall, you will
• you’re = you are
• you’ve = you have