Kim, I disagree. Laziness is not a factor here; dialect is. If you grow up in a home or neighborhood where "ask" is used instead of "ax," then that's what you'll likely say. It does reveal a level of education to a degree, but it's not an indicator of laziness. Imagine if someone told you that you sounded uneducated saying "ask." It would not be easy to switch, and it would sound unnatural for you to do so. People DO switch, but not without effort.

Regarding "mines": I HATE it! However, it does follow a pattern: yourS, herS, ourS, theirS, itS. ("His" doesn't fit because it already ends in -s.) So the first-person "mine" is actually an exception, and people are regularizing it to match the other corresponding forms. I work in a very high-poverty neighborhood where "mines" is the norm, and it's really hard to change it. People here aren't trying to sound ghetto. It is the ghetto. I figure "mines" is actually the more logical of the two forms and will win out in the end, but not after piercing my ears each time I hear it.

Kim, if you write off people who sound different from you, you're limiting yourself. People often try very hard to change their speech but it's difficult. I don't think you understand what it is like to speak a different dialect that is considered lower-class (and yes, there are some posers out there) because it takes work to change, and even then it doesn't always happen 100% of the time.

I agree that "ax" and "mines" will stigmatize people and mark them as uneducated, but the change doesn't reveal laziness or low intelligence. It reveals where people came from and where they live.

I like the capitalization out provided by PabloCity. But I have a related dilemma with an apostrophe, this time not a plural, but two possessives:

"Kinko's poor service was notorious in the industry."

The name of the business is "Kinko's" and at some point it is going to need a possessive of the possessive. I might rephrase the above sentence for something formal, but to represent speech? I definitely do not pronounce an additional [z] in this instance, but am I besmirching the good (or bad) name of Kinko's by ignoring its actual name and not writing Kinko's's, which looks atrocious. (The same could work for McDonald's.)

Please, Slobby, leave personal attacks out of it, especially when they are directed in the form of a run-on sentence. (Proofread your parting shot regarding my low-rent status: your comma should be replaced by a period or at least a semi-colon.)

In fact, take a second look at your initial volley: "Just because it's regional, doesn't mean it's OK." In addition to being a sentence fragment (using a dependent clause as a subject), you've diced it up even more by plugging in a comma before the verb. Ouch! You're writing just like you're speaking.

I agree. People frequently write language in the same way that they hear and speak it. I also agree that they often need editors to help clean up the results.

Can we concur on the points that you've illustrated with your own writing and let it rest? I really just came here to find out the distinctions between the various expressions that mean "suddenly," not to engage in class warfare.

Slobby, 10 to 1, you also PRONOUNCE "would of" and "would've" exactly the same. "Woulda" gets its own star!

What you are really worried about is orthography, when "would've" is the correct form. "Would of" needs to be fixed by an editor for formal writing. I agree that these mistakes need to be corrected for academic/professional writing.

Though I never claimed to be well read, Slobby, I must caution you to be more cautious with your own orthography.

Case in point: "well read (allegedly) individual"

You need to hyphenate WELL-READ because it precedes a noun (individual). If the combination does not precede a noun, no hyphen.

I don't want you to look like a moron.

I grew up in south-central Illinois with parents originally from farming families. I only knew of "all the sudden" until I saw "all of a sudden" in print, which looked odd to me. Yes, if I were drafting a formal document I would use "suddenly," but I don't see any point in harping over this detail in speech.

Also, I grew up reading quite a bit, despite coming from a blue-collar town in the dreaded Midwest. Many of you on this board really need to tone down your judgment. Regional dialect and colloquialisms are a delight if you can put down your snob shield and breathe them in. Relax. You don't have to join. Just observe and appreciate that not everyone talks just like you.