Ouch, we got a yankee explaining the south? Almost as bad of an idea as having Senator Stevens explain the internet.
Y'all, as it is properly spelled, is a plural second-person pronoun. It always is used in context of multiple people. Only in stereotypes, such as those perpetuated by our loving neighbors to the north, does someone refer to another as y'all. When one refers to another as y'all, and only one other person is around, they are referring to a higher group, such as their family, church or whatever social group. When Jim Bob is jaw jackin away to Bubba saying, "How y'all doing", he is inquiring about the general being of his family, wife, job, and anything other than just himself. Remember, in the south we like to talk thus, instead of wasting time with how are you doing, we just jump to the meat of how y'all doing. I hope this clears things up a bit. -Joe Lawson Sorry for the WOB but this was important :) > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Gary Warner > Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 8:07 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [funsec] Proper y'all usage > > Dave Paris wrote: > > Just to ensure proper Southern grammar: > > > > ya'll - singular > > all ya'll - plural > > all ya'll's - plural posessive > > > > .. hey, my wife escaped from Alabama, what can I say? ;-) > > > > Dave, > > As a former Yankee, who is a CURRENT resident of Alabama, I felt that a > deeper explanation was probably needed. > > y'all > - a contraction of "you all", which is a reordering of "all of you". > - proper usage: > > Y'all should come over for lunch after church. > > compare with the Chicago version of my youth: > > Youse guys should come over for a drink after the game. > > Unfortunately many in rural Alabama, which includes the majority of the > older population, improperly use this as a singular pronoun, as Dave > mentions. Even their children, who are better fed, better educated, > and > even go on to college and a real job, often retain the linguistic > patterns of their youth, so that even professionals and business people > betray their heritage by using the improper form of the word. Instead > of being used as "you all", it is frequently used to replace the word > "you". > > Jim Bob: Hey Bubba, How y'all doing? > Bubba: Jes fine, Jim Bob. How y'all? > > When I'm feeling especially Yankee and I'm greeted in this manner, I > reply in a smart-ass way, to help keep the concept of "the damned > Yankee" alive and well: > > Jim Bob: Hey Gar, How y'all doing? > Gar: All of us are fine, Jim Bob. How are all of you? > > Of course this means that I am less often invited to lunch at Full Moon > BarBQ, where the sign proclaims "You can smell our butts for miles!". > But that's ok, I prefer sushi anyway. > > It is also frequently further contracted with the word "what", so that > the phrase "what are you doing?", which is contracted to "what're you > doing?" or even "watcha doing?" in other parts of the country, here is > contracted to "watchall doing?" (What are you all => watchall). > > Those who use "y'all" as a singular then faced the fact that they could > not tell the difference between the singular and plural pronouns, and > so > they developed the phrase "all y'all". (However, y'all is freely mixed > as singular or plural in most scenarios. The use of "all y'all" is > considered "more rural" than the typical interchangeable use.) > > Bubba: Emma Sue, y'all wanna go hear some music tonight? > Emma Sue: I cain't, Bubba. I'm fixin' to go to church with my > cousins. > Bubba: That's ok, all y'all could come after church. > Emma Sue: Hmmm. We might could at that! Could you carry us? > Bubba: Great! What time is all y'all's church over? > > (Helpful notes: > > "fixin'" is used as "about to", but has its roots in > "preparing to" or "getting ready to". > > I'm fixin' to go to bed. > American Idol is fixin' to start! > We was jes fixin' to eat. > > "Might could" is roughly the equivalent of "Might be able to" or "could > possibly". > > "Carry" means "to provide a ride". > > D'y'all think you might could carry me home after work? > > > _______________________________________________ > Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. > https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec > Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list. --- NOTICE RELATING TO REJECTION OF CERTAIN EMAIL MESSAGES: Please note that PQA utilizes email filtering software that will reject suspect messages or messages from a blacklisted domain without notifying the sender. If you are emailing from a new or private account, you should ask for confirmation of receipt. 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