Strine is particularly rich in idioms but it is the crossover from spoken to written speech that I am interested in. Would you expect to see 'gunna' in a letter to a newspaper, for example?

@CeliaVL only as a direct quotation.

I'm gonna go look it up, or Imma go look it up... you can't use both at the same time. We have to have some sorta standards.

@Kafirah ufittina splain it ta me? cuz I'mafittina gonna go!

@Charlene Imma finna letya but I gotta peep wassup wit dem cuz dey lit af.

@Kafirah grrl dey lit lika mo'fo!

You what?

@CeliaVL "I hate how people change our language" - in Old English

Lit: "Evil vowed (to) the nation (that) changes our language" We take your point. Languages do change over the years; it is none the less better that changes occur gradually and consistently. When the Roman Empire disintegrated, Latin, a literary lingua franca morphed into dozens of local patois - langue d'oïl, oc, catalan, spanish, &c. none of which was mutally intelligible with the others. This was hardly an improvement.

@amymcmxcii Yes; online translators are somewhat less than accurate. I have to confess to not being fluent in Old English

@Jnei Neither am I. Not at all, though a knowledge of German and Latin helps. Here is translator that might interest you. [msn.com]

It's the sort of thing that everyone does in speech, but I have been surprised to see it written so often. Language changes constantly, though. It is fascinating