cain't

Etymology
A variant spelling of, representing the pronunciation of this word in the southern United States.

Contraction

 * 1) * 1985, James A. Michener, Texas: A Novel. Reprinted 2014, Random House Publishing Group, ISBN 9780804151412, page 460:
 * “Stands to reason, the Mexican government, they cain’t persuade any real Mexican priests to travel all the way to Texas. Those hanker after the fleshpots of the big city. So the oney priests they can get to work in land s’far away are Irishmen who cain’t make no livin’ in Ireland, and who cain’t speak a word of Spanish neither, if’n you ask me.”
 * “Stands to reason, the Mexican government, they cain’t persuade any real Mexican priests to travel all the way to Texas. Those hanker after the fleshpots of the big city. So the oney priests they can get to work in land s’far away are Irishmen who cain’t make no livin’ in Ireland, and who cain’t speak a word of Spanish neither, if’n you ask me.”