"y'all"

SnazzyTraveller
SnazzyTraveller Posts: 457 Member
edited December 17 in Chit-Chat
I'm doing a linguistics paper. Can someone (preferably American) explain the usage of "y'all" for me please? And also, out of curiousity, for those who use it a lot are there any substitutes? What do you think Canadians use instead?
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Replies

  • ChristineMarie89
    ChristineMarie89 Posts: 1,079 Member
    means you all lol its mostly a southern thing
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
    Y'all is "you all," meaning all of you. For instance, "Y'all make me laugh!"
  • SnazzyTraveller
    SnazzyTraveller Posts: 457 Member
    Aright- so would it be incorrect to say "you make me laugh!" implying you plural? Or would it be misunderstood?
  • MFPAddict
    MFPAddict Posts: 2,069 Member
    Simple. It means Yinz. :tongue:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,449 Member
    Y'all is singular AND plural.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,449 Member
    "Y'all come back now, y'hear?"


    Could be for one person or twenty....
  • HorrorChix89
    HorrorChix89 Posts: 1,229 Member
    Y'all

    You all
    You all are
    All of you

    EX: Y'all funny (All of you are funny)
    Y'all need to shut up! (You all need to shut up!)

    Personally unless you're using it as dialog, I wouldn't use Y'All on a paper of any kind...unless of course you go to school in Texas, then it's okay.
  • mimi00madi
    mimi00madi Posts: 3
    That's Texas Talk for "you all"

    As in "I'm going to the store, y'all coming? "

    I hate it when you watch a movie about the south and they misuse the word. I would not use "y'all" when speaking to a solitary person. Nor do we say it like it has two syllables. It just rolls right off the tongue! LOL

    Y'ALL FEEL ME?!
  • SnazzyTraveller
    SnazzyTraveller Posts: 457 Member
    I think i'm getting a feel for this dialect :glasses: thanks... y'all!

    so what do u think people who dont use it say in its place? for example ahem... canadians?
  • tgh1914
    tgh1914 Posts: 1,036 Member
    Most other languages have a plural you; English doesn't. So the southerners kindly made one up for us.
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    I agree that it is the plural of you, i.e. you all.

    I don't use it for one person but there are some people that do. I call them redneck-squared.

    It drives me nuts when people write ya'll. Clearly the apostrophe should be after the y, not the a. Writing ya'll is just uneducated.

    Saying "all y'all", on the other hand is perfectly acceptable... it just emphasizes that there really are multiple people being addressed (for those that are still confused about whether y'all is singular or plural).

    And honestly, most people who use y'all on a regular basis don't care what the Canadians say (no offense to our northern neighbors, I'm just not sure why we'd be concerned with that).

    Hope that helps. Good luck on your paper. I hope you have other sources to cite besides MFP!

    P.S. I do have some Canadian friends and they say "you guys".
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Canadians say you, but the plural is implied by the context. Canadians don't have an equivalent.
  • TinkrBelz
    TinkrBelz Posts: 866 Member
    Aright- so would it be incorrect to say "you make me laugh!" implying you plural? Or would it be misunderstood?

    I say Y'all ALL of the time. I do live in Alabama!!

    Now, I only use y'all for plural. So, if I had three friends making jokes, I would say, "y'all are so funny!!!"

    But, if only one friend was making the joke, I would say, "You are so funny!"

    So to answer that question above, I would think you meant singular.

    I would think that people up north would say "Yous" instead of "Y'all"

    P.S. Even though I live in Alabama, I only have a slight southern accent. Most of the people down here have a HUGE southern drawl!!

    I would not use "Y'all" in a paper, your professor would not appreciate it! (Trust me, I am married to a professor!)
  • mamamudbug
    mamamudbug Posts: 572 Member
    We use y'all. The only other people I've personally met that use a plural you are cousins from New Jersey and they say you's guys. I have no idea what canadians might use.
  • french_press
    french_press Posts: 18
    That would be "You's/Youse/Yous," however you want to spell it!

    Ex: You's/Youse/Yous coming to the party tonight?

    There's also "you's/youse/yous guys" which is probably more similar to "y'all" now that I think about it.
  • SnazzyTraveller
    SnazzyTraveller Posts: 457 Member
    hahaha oh, MFP is my only source:happy:

    thanks guys. i was just wondering about what you thought we use because once i was in texas and a bunch of people asked what canadians use in place of it. they were astounded!!! :) i think i say "you guys" or just "you" covers it...
  • RaeLB
    RaeLB Posts: 1,216 Member
    Y'all is "you all," meaning all of you. For instance, "Y'all make me laugh!"

    ^

    I'm Canadian and I say y'all... however some people say "y'all?! wtf are you American?!" lol. It's just faster than saying you all or all of you.
  • TinkrBelz
    TinkrBelz Posts: 866 Member
    hahaha oh, MFP is my only source:happy:

    thanks guys. i was just wondering about what you thought we use because once i was in texas and a bunch of people asked what canadians use in place of it. they were astounded!!! :) i think i say "you guys" or just "you" covers it...

    I would think "you guys", but not "you" as a plural.

    You probably call coke "pop"! Don't y'all know it is all Coke! Then you say what kind of coke you want, diet coke, Pepsi, mountain dew!! :happy:
  • RaeLB
    RaeLB Posts: 1,216 Member
    I've never heard any of my friends say "yous"...it's always something like "you guys" or even a singular "you" covering a bunch of people when the context is understood.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member

    I would think "you guys", but not "you" as a plural.


    You would be wrong. :smile:
  • SnazzyTraveller
    SnazzyTraveller Posts: 457 Member
    I've never heard any of my friends say "yous"...it's always something like "you guys" or even a singular "you" covering a bunch of people when the context is understood.

    same! only once have i heard it and it was a hillbilly uncle of mine.
  • nerdyandilikeit
    nerdyandilikeit Posts: 2,185 Member

    I would think "you guys", but not "you" as a plural.


    You would be wrong. :smile:

    I say 'you guys'. I'm American but not southern. I never say 'y'all' unless I'm doing an impression.
  • Italian_Buju
    Italian_Buju Posts: 8,030 Member
    I am Canadian, I have always said y'all

    I had no idea it was weird, until at a meeting at work one day, and I said it, and the entire room just stopped everything and laughed....

    I guess many Canadians do not say that......no idea why I do.....
  • the_journeyman
    the_journeyman Posts: 1,877 Member
    It can also be singular or plural.

    JM
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
    i'm from texas, and we say it instead of "you all" or "you guys" etc...

    ex:
    where are y'all going?
    what do y'all want to do?
    how are y'all?
  • AprilPayne24
    AprilPayne24 Posts: 68
    Substitues for Y'all...

    Yens (My Grandmother says this - She is from Pittsburgh)
    Yous (New York)
  • 967_1111
    967_1111 Posts: 221 Member
    I am Canadian and I don't know anyone that uses "y'all" on a regular basis.

    I would just use "you". For example:

    - when yelling at my kids

    "When are you going to bed"

    Could be for one of them or more than one.

    y'all is the quickest way of being labelled an American.
  • Abigaillee15
    Abigaillee15 Posts: 100
    It's a Southern thing! I didn't realize how much I said it until I got onto this site and was throwing "Y'all's" all over the place. I bet some people get annoyed but I honestly can't help it! lol.
  • silkandsugar
    silkandsugar Posts: 125
    Hey y'all! LOL
  • sherry9300
    sherry9300 Posts: 149 Member
    If y'all sounds even remotely like it may have two syllables....you're saying it wrong. Nothing is worse than a forced y'all. I grew up in Texas and lived most of my adult life there and in Georgia and Mississippi. I say "you" and I say "y'all"....just depends on my mood.
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