Author Topic: Dunno  (Read 2515 times)

maxsims

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 436
  • Karma: +4/-0
    • View Profile
Dunno
« on: January 19, 2010, 10:43:26 AM »
Here's and interesting, and somewhat surprising, one.

I looked up "dunno" (the contraction of "don't know") in the online Merriam-Webster, and it was absent.  I admit to some surprise, as the expression is in common use in the USA.   I looked in my old Funk & Wagnalls, and again if failed to appear.   More surprise.

Then I looked in the online Oxford, where its use is described as informal.    In my old Oxford, it is down as colloquial.   Does this mean that its use has become more acceptable?

Joe Carillo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4646
  • Karma: +202/-2
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Dunno
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2010, 02:03:15 PM »
As far as I can gather, maxsims, only two dictionaries officially recognize “dunno” as a word, but only as informal pronunciation or slang.

The Webster's New World College Dictionary (2009) says:
dunno
don't know (in informal pronunciation)

And the Collins English Dictionary (2003) says:
dunno  Slang
contraction of
(I) do not know

At least in my neck of the woods, I don’t think “dunno” has become any more acceptable than it was, say, 20 or 30 years ago. It’s still looked upon as impolite or too peremptory for comfort.