Today one of our biggest fans (meaning a frequent caller) called in to ask how to spell the word 'were.' He tried to use it in a sentence so I would know for sure what word he needed the spelling for, except he couldn't overcome his dialect long enough to use Standard English to give me the word in context (which in this case was required). Instead, this was his sample sentence using the word 'were': "We was about to go somewhere."
Pause. I knew what he meant but waited for him to think things through.
"I mean, 'We were about to go somewhere,'" he said finally.
I restrained myself from laughing long enough to spell the word 'were' and listen to him hang up.
