Well, boil my pickle. Between Pittsburghese and a new British tag question, I may actually be unintelligible to English speakers.
"For some people, 'innit' is just another tag question, a contraction of 'isn't it'. But kids in urban Britain are using 'innit' to cover a wider and wider range of situations. Here are some examples of non-standard use, gleaned from recent messageboard postings:
'We need to decide what to do about that now innit.' (don't we?)
'Now I can start calling you that, INNIT!' (can't I?)
'I can see where my REAL friends are, elsewhere innit!!' (aren't they?)
'I'll show young Miss Hanna round to all the shops, innit.' (won't I?)"
'Now I can start calling you that, INNIT!' (can't I?)
'I can see where my REAL friends are, elsewhere innit!!' (aren't they?)
'I'll show young Miss Hanna round to all the shops, innit.' (won't I?)"
If the BBC says the above is proper grammer, that's enough reason to early adopt, innit?
(link via kottke)
I gave this more thought (too much thought honestly), and realized that I had heard this term back in a Native American Lit. course I took in college. It's a slang term used by Native Americans, but it's often spelled "enit". I rembmer seeing it in a book by Sherman Alexie (Indian Killer © 1996), and I believe it was used also in the movie Smoke Signals (again Sherman Alexie © 1998). It could be that the Brits were inspired by Native Americans, or that the term spontaneously popped up on both continents. Regardless, it is by no means a new term.
Posted by: the polish princess | Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 10:59 AM
you know...I remember the characters in Bend It Like Beckham using INNIT. now it makes more sense. :)
Posted by: the polish princess | Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 10:36 AM