"y'all"

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Replies

  • ZombieChaser
    ZombieChaser Posts: 1,555 Member
    As a Canadian, around here we don't use y'all. However, there's a heavy french influence in certain parts of Canada, and they say "you guys", or "yous", meaning all of you (plural of you). But, personally, I say "all of you guys"...I avoid the use of "yous" like the plague.

    (btw, go SENS go!)
  • itgeekwoman
    itgeekwoman Posts: 804 Member
    There is no Canadian version of Y'all. Canadians only ad eh on to the end of a sentence to ask a question or get confirmation. Y'all isn't in the vocabulary at all.

    I am Canadian, and I have lived in Charleston South Carolina where I have said eh and Y'all in the same sentence. I'm no less intelligent, but I did get a few chuckles. I liken the Y'all to a very slow country drawl. I love the south and the amount of time people take to just enjoy life.
  • aliciakay3086
    aliciakay3086 Posts: 61 Member
    Don't they say "you guys"?
    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?
  • swisspea
    swisspea Posts: 327 Member
    I'm Canadian, and we don't use y'all, unless we're trying to be funny. Usually we use "everyone" or "you guys" or just "you" depending on the situation
  • datguy2011
    datguy2011 Posts: 477 Member
    Canadian's use y'all as well...
  • PittShkr
    PittShkr Posts: 1,000 Member
    In Pittsburgh we say yinz. Hence we are all yinzerz!
  • unsuspectingfish
    unsuspectingfish Posts: 1,176 Member
    It's not just a Southern thing, though. My mother's family is from West Virginia, and they use it all the time, which is how I've come to use it all the way over in Washington state.
  • staceyseeger
    staceyseeger Posts: 778 Member
    I'm from South Texas. I say, write & type YA'LL all the time. The first time I told my kids "ya'll go in yonder" - he's like "where's that?" :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • upnorthtim
    upnorthtim Posts: 376 Member
    there are also the nuanced uses such as ...."all y'all" and "each of y'all" ......... :-)
  • joankpoirier
    joankpoirier Posts: 281 Member
    and then there is the good old stand by
    YA'LL COME BACK NOW
  • swisspea
    swisspea Posts: 327 Member
    I wouldn't say the use of "yall" is at all common in Canada- if we say it at all (which is extremely rare), we do when we're trying to convey an overly casual tone, or if we're doing something we associate with the southern states.
    Canadian's use y'all as well...
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    Whats really interesting is the difference between y'all and all'y'all ;)
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    Most other languages have a plural you; English doesn't. So the southerners kindly made one up for us.

    Wasn't that Just so sweet of us!

    I say y'all a lot. I write it here sometimes because it reflects how I talk. I also write/say 'ya' instead of 'you' sometimes. I would never use either in formal writing though. And I will never ever ever say or write ain't. I've worked very hard to keep that atrocity out of my vocabulary!

    Another colloquial where I grew up is fixin' to. As in, 'I'm fixin to go to the store - do y'all need anything?' :p
  • YouAreTheShit
    YouAreTheShit Posts: 510 Member
    The use of the word "yous" is just messed up! LOL

    Those New Yorkers speak a whole different language. And they act all High Falootin' too...

    There should be a ban on any transplants from New York to other states in order to keep the dialect clean elsewhere. Haha
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
    plural for "you"
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    Y'all is singular AND plural.

    Yup. Though some folks down here say "all ya'll" when referring to more than one person. I think it really depends on where you are in the south. Here in NC, ya'll is plural.
  • inside_lap
    inside_lap Posts: 728 Member
    I'm from the south where y'all is part of every day conversation. I've actually NEVER heard it used in reference to only one person as it stands for "you all". I'm currently stationed in upstate NY and "yous" (or however it's properly written) is quite common. When visiting my Canadian cousins they like to give me a hard time about my deep southern accent. Which is funny because my "accent" consists mostly of "y'all" *rolls eyes*.
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    Texan here, I say Y'all. It's a lazy way to say you all heh... I use it also in place of you guys which I believe a lot of the northern folk say.
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    It's not just a Southern thing, though. My mother's family is from West Virginia, and they use it all the time, which is how I've come to use it all the way over in Washington state.

    I think West Virginia is considered a southern state, even though it's almost a midwestern one.
  • islandjumper
    islandjumper Posts: 369 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.

    ^^^ Pretty much. Lived in the south for 12 years but can't break my 'you guys' habit. I've heard You's but it's not something I've ever used.
  • islandjumper
    islandjumper Posts: 369 Member
    It's not just a Southern thing, though. My mother's family is from West Virginia, and they use it all the time, which is how I've come to use it all the way over in Washington state.

    I think West Virginia is considered a southern state, even though it's almost a midwestern one.

    yeah....West Virginia is fairly southern
  • yager8725
    yager8725 Posts: 267 Member
    its Y'all! In place of you all
  • LifeOnMars_
    LifeOnMars_ Posts: 720 Member
    I'm Canadian and I say "you guys" a lot. I never say "Eh". I'm from the Maritimes. (Atlantic Canada)
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    Simple. It means Yinz. :tongue:

    Beat me to it...
  • KissMyAx
    KissMyAx Posts: 129 Member
    The use of the word "yous" is just messed up! LOL

    Those New Yorkers speak a whole different language. And they act all High Falootin' too...

    There should be a ban on any transplants from New York to other states in order to keep the dialect clean elsewhere. Haha

    Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here!
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
    Florence, Kentucky has "Florence y'all" painted on their water tower.

    (I may not be spelling that right.)
  • juliee274
    juliee274 Posts: 124 Member
    I live in Georgia, studied Southern culture as well, and y'all is ONLY plural, used correctly. It is a contraction for "you all."

    One Person = You
    Two+ People = Y'all

    In the North, people say "you guys" instead. Y'all, however, is grammatically correct.
  • KLo924
    KLo924 Posts: 379 Member
    Looks like you've gotten a good schooling on "y'all" (sidenote, eight years in NC and I only heard it for plural you, never singular). Here are some alternatives: Yuns (pronounced "you-nz" and "yihnz") - very Pennsylvania/West Virginia, maybe down to Tennessee; yous Pennsylvania, New Jersey, maybe up into downstate NY around NY City; and then I grew up saying "you guys" for plural you (regardless of gender; fyi I'm from upstate NY) but definitely got chastised by older women when I moved to the south!
  • jillyt85
    jillyt85 Posts: 161 Member
    I'm from Texas and use this word multiple times a day. We also have a plural version (I know y'all is already plural) "all y'all". When you say y'all to a group, you might only be talking to two of the five people, but if you say "all y'all" then all five of them know you're talking to them.
  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
    I'm from New England.. and not many people use "y'all." It happens, but usually they are then made fun of :)

    For plural it's just "you all" or "all of you."

    Or in casual company I'm guilty of (way over-) using "you guys," even if it's girls I'm speaking to.
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