you was

[Drunkie]

It don't have "utter rot", huh, matey? Maybe it have "utter" and "rot', huh, doncha think? Carnt you put them two together?

I'm in no struggle against vernacular stuff. I just want it kept where it belongs - i.e. away from ignorant language-learners.

[Drunkie]

Came across an interesting quote, so thought I might share it with you guys, especially our dear paul_kiss:
"To me, Cockney speaking men sound completely illiterate - almost as bad as some black American English speakers."
Those are a British woman's words. Pretty telling, isn't it?

[paul_kiss]

Pretty telling, isn't it?

Maybe. But whoever this British woman is this quote is nothing more than her opinion. I do share it to some extend but not completely. Someone may say whatever he/she wants to, I don't think it's wise to trust those words that much  and make them kind of something "telling".

Imagine, that some English speaking learner of your mother tongue (I guess it's Rus) starts to correct you because your speach don't fit some points in the textbook that learner learnt Russian with. I really don't think the truth will totally be on that English speaking Russian language learner's side. Whatever is written in his book you know better how to speak Russian, don't you?

The paragraph above doesn't really touch vernacular stuff only. It's rather the matter of the whole approach to this issue.

Maybe it have "utter" and "rot', huh, doncha think? Carnt you put them two together?

Well, that's exactly what I did. And of course the meaning itself's clear. I just never heard these 2 words used together.

And by the way, thanks for a chance to look into the dictionary, as for this "rot" Lingvo gives a damn good phrase:
"ROT YOU, SIR!" Sounds quite noble, ain't it? Not some vulgar "F you!", but "rot you, sir!"

I think "utter rot" may be translated into Rus as "гон"...

[Drunkie]

starts to correct you because your speach don't fit some points in the textbook that learner learnt Russian with. I really don't think the truth will totally be on that English speaking Russian language learner's side

Well if he corrects my referring to "кофе" as "оно" instead of "он" (which is my usual habit), I'm afraid he'll be right. In fact, many of the things that I say when speaking (supposedly) Russian would be frowned at by scholars. Again, if a native speaker says something, that doesn't make it 'correct'. It may be appropriate in some contexts and situations, but not necessarily 'correct'. How many times does this simple truth have to be repeated?

"ROT YOU, SIR!" Sounds quite noble, ain't it? Not some vulgar "F you!", but "rot you, sir!"

Yeah, sound quite noble it does. Never heard that one before, though.

[Drunkie]

There - I've said it myself - 'usual habit'. Google it and you'll see that countless native English speakers use it all the time, but it is NOT correct, because a habit can ONLY be usual.

[RawonaM]

In fact, many of the things that I say when speaking (supposedly) Russian would be frowned at by scholars.

Supposedly Russian? If not Russian, then what? Drunkie, if by 'scholars' you mean 'linguists', then I want to inform you that they do not frown at any language. If you meant chemists and mathematicians, you're right.

Guys, you just mean different notions using the same word. Drunkie uses 'correct' in the sense "corresponds to the standard language", whereas paul_kiss is talking about linguistic 'correct' (which is indeed everything that a native speaker utters).

[Drunkie]

Supposedly Russian? If not Russian, then what? 

Well, it is Russian but not, er, quite really Russian. Come on, you were born in Ukraine, you must know what I mean

[RawonaM]

Supposedly Russian? If not Russian, then what? 

Well, it is Russian but not, er, quite really Russian. Come on, you were born in Ukraine, you must know what I mean

It does not matter where I was born, you wanted to say "not Standard Russian". But it's Russian anyway.

[djwebb1969]

The use of "you was" in the example given by the OP (original poster) has nothing to do with the subjunctive. It is just dialect/sloppy speech.

Let's look at this sentence:

"I said as you was in bed and I wasn't sure if you were receiving".

First of all, "as you was in bed" does not call for the subjunctive. You can check this by trying to use the first person: "as I was in bed, I couldn't get to the phone".  So the first "you was" is just dialect/relaxed English.

The second case, that of "if you were receiving", does not call for the subjunctive either. Try putting it in the first person: "he wasn't sure if I was doing such and such a thing or not". There is no mystery here: the person mixes his usage, sometimes saying "you was" and sometimes saying "you were".

The subjunctive is called for in phrases like "if I were you", but we could go off on a tangent about whether grammar should be prescriptive or descriptive. Conservative speakers in England say "if I were you", but the indicative is used for the subjunctive by what is apparently a majority of native speakers in England today. They would therefore say "if I was you".

However, "if you were receiving" is not a subjunctive-type clause. It is not every if-clause that calls for the subjunctive. The more counterfactual uses do call for it, or at least do so in traditional usage. "I didn't knock the door, as I didn't know if he was indoors or not". This is not subjunctive, and you can't say "he were" in this sentence. "If he were standing on the moon, he would feel the effects of the moon's lighter gravitational pull". This calls for the subjunctive, as he is not on the moon, and the example is totally counterfactual.

Similar to the use of "was" for "were" is "goes" for "go". Look at this conversation:

"I goes, 'where are you going tonight?'"
"He goes, 'to the pub.'"
"I goes, 'can I come along?"

It is a lame conversation, but it's all I can think of right now. I goes, he goes, I goes, he goes, reports the various "entries" in the conversation. It really means "I said", "then he said", "then I said". As this use of "go" for "said" is already a very relaxed way of talking, it is normally found with "I goes", rather than "I go".

[Rezia]

Thank you very much for your participation in the discussion. I think that here the speaker ( by using this "if you were" )took his last chance to sound educated as maybe he realised that he was not correct in the first "you was".