"y'all"

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SnazzyTraveller
SnazzyTraveller Posts: 458 Member
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: 1,142 Member
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    means you all lol its mostly a southern thing
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
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    Y'all is "you all," meaning all of you. For instance, "Y'all make me laugh!"
  • SnazzyTraveller
    SnazzyTraveller Posts: 458 Member
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    Aright- so would it be incorrect to say "you make me laugh!" implying you plural? Or would it be misunderstood?
  • MFPAddict
    MFPAddict Posts: 2,303 Member
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    Simple. It means Yinz. :tongue:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,998 Member
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    Y'all is singular AND plural.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,998 Member
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    "Y'all come back now, y'hear?"


    Could be for one person or twenty....
  • HorrorChix89
    HorrorChix89 Posts: 1,229 Member
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    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
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    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: 458 Member
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    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
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    Most other languages have a plural you; English doesn't. So the southerners kindly made one up for us.
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
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    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
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    Canadians say you, but the plural is implied by the context. Canadians don't have an equivalent.
  • TinkrBelz
    TinkrBelz Posts: 888 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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: 458 Member
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    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
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    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: 888 Member
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    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
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    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
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    I would think "you guys", but not "you" as a plural.


    You would be wrong. :smile:

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