Quizzes & Puzzles13 mins ago
innit.
9 Answers
When did this become a popular vernacular amongst the lower classes?
No doubt hyped by Catherine Tate and Vicky Pollard, they surely didn't invent it.
I am from London and occasionally used public transport whereby I was forced to mingle with poor people. Yet whilst I recall such dialectic bunkum such as "Right" at the end of each sentence often appended by "Know what I mean", I do not believe I ever actually heard the quite charming "Innit" said with such popularity nowadays.
Perhaps this is a case for "Balderdash and Piffle" but I don't fink they will do it. Innit.
Any ideas?
Thank you.
No doubt hyped by Catherine Tate and Vicky Pollard, they surely didn't invent it.
I am from London and occasionally used public transport whereby I was forced to mingle with poor people. Yet whilst I recall such dialectic bunkum such as "Right" at the end of each sentence often appended by "Know what I mean", I do not believe I ever actually heard the quite charming "Innit" said with such popularity nowadays.
Perhaps this is a case for "Balderdash and Piffle" but I don't fink they will do it. Innit.
Any ideas?
Thank you.
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.This has been around for as long as i can remember but it is in use more these days, its another way obviously of saying isn't it. which has also come from the need for people to say right and know what i mean.its a way to gain the understanding of whether or not the person you are talking to agrees with what you are saying.
You may find this offensive, however saying that you have to mix with "poor people" its just what makes people act as they are treated and using words like init, and therefore soon upperclass people won't be able to tell what the "poor people" are saying.
You may find this offensive, however saying that you have to mix with "poor people" its just what makes people act as they are treated and using words like init, and therefore soon upperclass people won't be able to tell what the "poor people" are saying.
'Innit' was used widely by young people, particularly in English speaking Asian communities I noticed, around 5 years ago.
It wasn't just used to mean ISN'T IT- it was regularly used in circumstances where previously people said 'you know' or 'right' or 'like' and often just tagged onto the end of sentences in a random way.
It seems less prevelant now- or maybe I just don't notice it now
It wasn't just used to mean ISN'T IT- it was regularly used in circumstances where previously people said 'you know' or 'right' or 'like' and often just tagged onto the end of sentences in a random way.
It seems less prevelant now- or maybe I just don't notice it now
Nothing really new, in a sense. Welsh people are still fond of saying 'isn't it' at the end of their sentences. It's a translation of Welsh, where the equivalent of 'isn't it' is used for emphasis, as we might use 'certainly, 'definitely,' or 'indeed', rather than as a simple interrogative. In Welsh it sounds like 'oddi-var', so, at a guess, it's written 'o d'y fa '. Welsh speakers using English sometimes use the Welsh words rather than 'isn't it' .
'Innit' itself is often used for emphasis rather than as a straight interrogative, like' indeed ' or the rhetorical 'don't you agree/think?'.
'Innit' itself is often used for emphasis rather than as a straight interrogative, like' indeed ' or the rhetorical 'don't you agree/think?'.
Indians in India (speaking in English) sometimes say 'isn't it' in the same way. I imagine it's short for 'isn't it true?' or something similar- in other words, the same meaning as 'right?' or 'yeah?', but without the rising intonation that denotes a question. Nonetheless, it in effect still a question; it's more that the speaker doesn't care whether you answer it or not.