]]I seem to recall from somewhere (L&T?) that the contraction "an't" was viewed very much like today's "ain't": a sign of low breeding.

] What's more astonishing is, if this is a word mainly associated with low breeding, is the fact is that she is speaking to Mrs. Ferrars when she uses it.

]For a second, it almost makes Fanny's usage of the word make her seem human, doesn't it?

This is what I love about group reads, because I don't think I've ever thought about this before, or seen it on the board, but this thread gives me several suppositions as to what it might be.

--I wondered too whether it might be a slip, indicating that the prim and proper speech Fanny uses is a put-on?

--A second thought was that maybe the thought of actually complimenting Elinor was so painful to her that she could not bring herself to use proper speech to do it! Or she did not feel as though a compliment to/about Elinor deserved to be spoken in proper English?