This message was self-deleted by its author

[Are_grits_groceries]

This message was self-deleted by its author (Are_grits_groceries) on Thu Feb 9, 2012, 06:39 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[Syrinx]

1. I don't see what is so bad about "y'all"

I'm not an expert on language or anything like that. But it's a simple contraction of "you all."

You can spot a fake southerner in media when they use "y'all" to address a lone individual. That happens all the time on the TeeVee, and I find it hilarious.

I've always assumed from "grits" that you are Southern yourself. Have I been mistaken all this time?

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. I love the word y'all.

I am also a native Southerner. I was just commenting on the fact that a lot of people who have gotten rid of their accents can never seem to shake the word y'all. The people who are not fakes use it correctly and effortlessly.

Many of these people are not turning their backs on the South. They have adopted a change in order to succeed at their chosen professions. They maintain strong ties. Of course there are those who would have to be waterboarded to admit it.

There was an actress I clearly remember. She was from Eastern NC, and she always loved that place and people. It was Ava Gardner. When she returned home to visit, she was just one of the folks and nev put on airs. Se was absolutely stunning.

Ava was buried there instead of LA. People turned out for her funeral because they loved her and her respect for them. They came out of love and respect and not curiosity and because of her fame. I wonder how many people realized who she really was.

[HillWilliam]

14. We southerners look down on

"you-all" when outsiders are trying to be "cute" (addressing a lone individual: "you-wall see how I can blend in?!?" "Uh, no, not so much&quot . You're right: when someone uses either "you-all" any time or "y'all" to address an individual, someone else is thinking "faaaaaaaaaaaaake... irritating fake at that."

The mid-state and northern "youse" has the same connotation as "y'all" and should be used in the same context: second person plural. (That is, if it is to be used at all.) To my regional ears, it's an inelegant construction, an attempt to pluralize a word that can already by plural simply by context alone. "You" alone doesn't have apparent number: "y'all" is always plural.

In fairness, it's as irritating to me when someone (not a northerner) tries to be "cute" (addressing a lone individual: "Can youse see how I can blend in?!?" "Uh, no, not so much.&quot Nobody likes that sort of fake, either.

While it's true that both "y'all" and "youse" are verbal atrocities, I'm southern to the core and can't give up "y'all". My partner grew up on the WV/Maryland state line and says "youse" (though after a decade in NC, he has discovered "y'all" but rarely employs it). When he does say "y'all" he does employ it correctly -- bless his heart

[arely staircase]

52. i have actually heard rural east texans use y'all in the singular

"ya'll be careful" as a goodbye to me alone. and how is it a verbal atrocity when it actually removes the ambiguity of "you."

[HillWilliam]

77. Oh, don't get me wrong

I'm southern up and down so I use "y'all" all the time: at home (where my accent is thickest, but hey, it's home), with my neighbors, my friends, etc.

I would never include it in a business memo or letter, nor in professional correspondence. That's the only reason I'd term both my familiar and beloved "y'all" and my DH's "youse" verbal atrocities. I'm might walk around saying "Y'all have a great day!", but to say or write it in a formal setting, not so much.

I thought about your example and it occurred to me that I say "See y'all later" or something equivalent to an individual on parting company. It sends the sense of your best wishes beyond the person to whom you're speaking. I think it's something on the lines of "my good intentions are extended to your family and friends though you". At least, that's how we mean it in my part of the south.

I've often wondered how it is that English evolved with only one second person nominative. All the other languages in which I'm fluent distinguish second person singular and plural. There are also separate formal and informal forms. As rich as English is in every other way, an ambiguous, rather lonesome "you" stands out as an almost-unique deficiency.

Now, where I come from there is a further atrocity that, oh yes I do use with my relatives. It's "y'uns". It's the Appalachian equivalent of "y'all". I would ask my mom and aunts "are y'uns going to the DAR meeting this week?" and neither would bat an eye. My DH thinks it's a hysterical manner of speech, so I refuse to grace him with "y'uns".

Another word we have in the south meaning "a collection of other, unnamed parties" would be "an-nem". "Are y'all going to church with momma an-nem this week?" meaning roughly "Are all of you going to church with my mother and anyone else she might bring along?" (Actually, now that I think about it, it comes out more like "mommanem", an even worse verbal atrocity heh)

Sigh, yes, I say an-nem in familiar company all the time. I was raised a bit old fashioned with a great deal of education in English grammar, construction, and mechanics (not that you could tell on a board). I love the Elizabethan lilt and fanciful constructions of the almost-dead version of English I grew up with in the mountains of NC. Without tv, radio, or much outside contact, storytelling and playful constructions were about the only entertainment to be had. So long as I'm alive, the dialect will never die.

We also call a grocery bag a "poke". A mesh container with a certain tuber is "a poke o' taters". We often complain we spent $50 at the grocery store and only came home with two pokes.

Whilst I'm on about it: there is another atrocious bend in English I grew up with: "they've" in place of "there is" or "there are". "They've four pokes of groceries in the trunk of the car. Y'all younguns get on up now and bring 'em inside." Eeeeyyyeah, it slips out every now and then.

[arely staircase]

79. that was all very interesting - i'm a language nerd (im only fluent in two)

i would never use y'all in formal writing, though i probably would in formal speech. always use it in informal speech and informal writing. i grew up with southern-american english (dad's side) and mexican spanish (mom's) so i never lacked for a second person plural pronoun. i found it quite startling in elementary school when i leaned that "you" was plural.

have you ever heard "get shed of" for get rid of? that's common around here - especially among the older folks.

and of course we are all "fixin'" to do something.

[HillWilliam]

82. LOL, oh yeah, I'm always fixinta

chore. Or fixinta take a nap, whichever strikes my fancy.

God, i love Spanish. I took the equivalent of six years and have used it as often as English in my adult life. I've lived in Texas three times, southern California, and south Florida, so I've had plenty of opportunity. For every cussword we have in English, Spanish has ten. English has essentially one BIG EffWord. I must know forty EffWords in Spanish LOL

We use "get shed of" or "get shut of" something back home. The first time I ever heard "quit" as in a breakup was in Texas and Louisiana. I didn't hear it again until I watched Brokeback Mountain.

[hootinholler]

23. Um, y'all is singular

The plural is "all y'all."

[Stinky The Clown]

26. :snort:

So true!

And all y'all know that.

[Odin2005]

38. Y'all is exclusive 2nd Person Plural, All Y'all is inclusive.

At least that's the linguistic explanation I have heard. "All Y'all" is used when you what to specify and emphasize that you are speaking to the ENTIRE group.

[Capitalocracy]

44. Y'all may be a subset of y'all, but all y'all is clearly everyone within earshot.

No room for confusion there.

And don't forget, y'all may also be used to add emphasis, y'all.

[KatyMan]

40. No truer words have ever been spoken :)

all y'all stand up and listen!

[BlueToTheBone]

45. lol!

So true,
Y'all take care now!

[trof]

51. Plural: Awl uh y'awl.

[tosh]

56. ...

[arely staircase]

53. not usually, not in the mississippi delta/gulf coast southern subdialect spoken in east texas

hear "all y'all" would only be used to emphasize the fact something applied to everyone. as in i expect "all y'all" to get to work on time.

[Monk06]

90. And for large groups it's, all y'all y'all yoodle a e hoooooooooooooooooo !!! .

[Are_grits_groceries]

91. Go away!

[Monk06]

92. Ack !!!!!!!!

[Are_grits_groceries]

93. Glad you have chosen a spokescat who is

much more personable and adds more to the thread than you.

[Monk06]

94. Ya know a sense of humor is a horrible thing to lose

ACK !!!!!!!!

[Are_grits_groceries]

96. Indeed!

It's hard to tell at times when someone is just joining In the fun or making fun of. Truce?

[Capitalocracy]

2. We do lack a second-person plural pronoun in our language.

I imagine if you grow up using y'all, it must feel like you're missing a part of speech to give it up.

Don't some people also do this with "yous"?

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. Thanks!

You said it much better than I did!

[EFerrari]

10. Yes, and if we ask a New Yorker

they could probably tell us exactly where it occurs. I want to say Long Island but that may be wrong.

[surrealAmerican]

57. I would say Brooklyn.

When I moved to Long Island as a child, that was an easily identifiable Brooklyn speech pattern. Nassau County kids didn't say "youze".

[EFerrari]

60. I couldn't find brooklyn on a map.

But was friends with a couple, one of them from LI. He talked like he had a quarter on his tongue. But together, they sounded like a barely intelligible Tony Soprano to this untrained ear and I remember picking out "youse". Maybe it was a mixed marriage.

[obamanut2012]

16. Beat me to it!

I was going to post it.

Y'all is a wonderful word.

[sofa king]

20. I concur.

I wish I could remember the turn of phase used in colonial legal documents. In the 1600s it was something like "ye & yrs."

The colonists also appear to have taken advantage of that gap in the language, in order to conflate "your (tribally owned)" land with "your (owned by drunken tribal leader who can sign it away)" land.

It really pisses me off when I see folks being criticized for improving the functionality of our language by introducing needed pronouns, more accurate verb tenses, and subject-object gender agreement, or streamlining archaic medieval spelling, and so on.

Oh, I still have my pet peeves, like denoting a plural with an apostrophe, but those piss me off for the same reason, which is that they serve to muddle what is written, rather than to clarify.

As if our zip-tied and duct-taped pastiche needs to be protected, rather than fixed. But fixed or not, "changed" it definitely will be, even though our language evolves at the speed of its slowest, most inarticulate speaker.

[Odin2005]

39. Yup. Language changes, the grammar Nazi's are fighting a losing battle.

The formal language won't change, of course, that is becoming a fossilized language like Latin or Standard Arabic. But the spoken dialects will continue to diverge with each other until we all speak languages as distinct from each other as Spanish, French, and Italian.

My favorite odd grammatical change in my own dialect is the spreading of spurious -en endings in irregular past participles: Boughten, caughten, taughten, cutten, pullen, etc.

[HillWilliam]

78. I've only heard that

in the rust belt and parts of NJ.

I love American dialects and accents. They peg us to home and add color to the whole language at the same time.

If I spoke the Appalachian dialect of my youth I'd be understood almost not at all beyond a narrow range of mountains in southwestern VA, easternmost TN, or westernmost NC. I've lived in 11 states, have operated in 40. The ability to adapt and absorb other dialects has been immensely valuable. I often feel like a walking encyclopedia of dialects because I've had to function in so many regions.

[izquierdista]

21. We make do by other means

Just as we make do using the same word for non-inclusive first person plural and inclusive first person plural. Indonesians and Malays make a distinction, so they don't run the risk of a misunderstanding (kita is inclusive, kami isn't).

However, from what I have heard, y'all replaces you in all instances where people in the South use it. There doesn't seem to be a number distinction between you and y'all.

What is nice about English is that pronouns are egalitarian, no familiar vs. formal forms, and no extremely polite forms which require the use of the third person when conjugating verbs.

[Capitalocracy]

22. Yeah, I never use usted

Although people tend to use it fairly rarely here anyway

[EFerrari]

59. I do for elders and for people I need to insult a little. lol

[HillWilliam]

80. There are shades of distinction at least in my region

"Y'all" isn't at all a direct replacement for "you"-singular. There are lots of delicate, unspoken mores and customs. To deviate and use "y'all" as a direct replacement has a lot of (usually negative) implications. A couple of the few positive implications would be to invite someone and their SO or family into a social event: "Oh, it's so good to see you again. Say, would y'all to come over for supper on Saturday?" when addressing an individual would be considered a polite extended invitation. Conversely, "I know how y'all are" when addressing an individual is extremely rude, like an attempt to pigeonhole an individual with a less-desirable group.

In most cases, "you" is an abrupt singular: you and you alone. "Y'all" when speaking to one person can imply several situational connotations: it can be a more familiar "you" when intent is extended beyond the person being addressed. "Y'all have a great day" when addressing an individual, for instance on parting company, sends good wishes to their family and friends as well. In direct, one-to-one conversation, one would never address an individual as "y'all". That would be extremely bad manners. "You" implies that the person being addressed has the sole attention of the speaker. "Y'all" when having a one-on-one conversation is considered graceless and very bad manners, tantamount to stereotyping. "Y'all talk funny" is bigoted. "You talk funny" is still impolite, but it doesn't stereotype a person into some group.

I would never ask someone, for instance, "are y'all going to the picnic?" to imply that one individual. They may not want to have their family or other individuals to tag along. I would ask an individual "are y'all going to the picnic?" if I understood that they may be bringing company along with them.

Since I'm gay, I hear this distinction in usage a lot. If I were asked "Are you coming to the picnic" it would be understood that my partner is not invited (and I would politely decline in that case). If I were asked "Are y'all coming to the picnic" I would understand that my partner is invited as well. People are still at a loss on how to address or speak of same-sex partners. The distinction between "you" and "y'all" is miles wide. The connotations are well-understood. "Y'all" tells me that everything is ok, even if they can't say The Geh or know what to call my partner. I understand they're trying or maybe even cool.

But to address me as "you" in that sort of conversation makes it clear that the speaker is uncomfortable with my orientation and my appearance with my partner would be disruptive. It would connote "I'm only inviting you to be polite. I hope you'll decline." Indeed I would... and remember the slight.

[KatyMan]

41. We don't actually

You is plural. Thou is singular. Well, four or five hundred years ago it was.

[tabbycat31]

68. that exists in the northeast

It's called "you guys"

[Syrinx]

3. along the same lines, grits versus polenta

Pretty much the same thing. Though self-important liberal snobs much prefer to order "polenta." it sounds slightly foreign, thus more acceptable.

[Capitalocracy]

6. Interesting... I call it polenta, but I started eating it here in Argentina

didn't realize grits were the same thing... are they prepared the same? We do it with tomato sauce

On edit: My wife's Italian grandmother who emigrated to Argentina didn't like polenta... she would always say this is what we use to feed the pigs back in Italy!

[Syrinx]

7. I don't know about polenta with tomato sauce, but I guess that could be good

But grits and polenta are both ground corn meal, though.

[Capitalocracy]

8. Just make it the same way you would spaghetti or whatever other pasta

except put the sauce over polenta instead, maybe with some melted cheese in the polenta. Good stuff. Be careful not to eat too much, though... it keeps expanding in your stomach, so you can finish feeling satisfied and end up feeling way too full.

[Syrinx]

9. sounds good

Thanks.

[woodsprite]

12. Both polenta and grits sound better than mush. n/t

[trof]

54. Not quite.

True southern grits are made with ground hominy whereas polenta is simply ground cornmeal. The proper name for them (grits) is actually 'hominy grits'.
You can make "grits" out of untreated corn, but these are corn grits and not really found in southern US cuisine. Grits are typically a much coarser grind than polenta.

Hominy is corn that has been nixtamalized, which means soaked and cooked in an alkali solution, typically lye or limewater. This process converts the niacin present in corn into a form more soluble in the human body. Early European importers of corn from the USA dismissed this process as unnecessary, and as corn became a subsequent staple a pretty nasty disease called pellagra took hold caused by niacin deficiency.

And there you have it.

[Kali]

65. thank you!

I was hyperventilating...

nonononono! hominy is not corn meal

[HillWilliam]

81. I'll admit to using polenta

Nanny Farrell's Failsafe Cornbread

Made in an 8" iron skillet. Nothing else will do: it must be iron to get the crust right.

Preheat over to 425.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together:
1c white bread flour
1 & 1/2c fine yellow corn meal (bolted white corn meal is tasteless and makes a lousy pone)
1/2c yellow polenta (the bolted isn't quite as tasty)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Add 1/4c oil and 1 beaten egg and start gently knocking the mass together. Do not work or blend smooth: that will toughen the result.

Add a bit of buttermilk (nothing else will do) at a time and gently bat together until the batter is like a pudding.

Add a few tablespoons of peanut oil or shortening to the skillet. These can withstand the necessary heat to create the wonderful crunchy crust.

Heat the skillet until wisps of smoke begin to rise. The pan must be HOT. ([font color="red"]Caution: watch this carefully. It is possible to have a flashover if you heat the skillet too much. Have a lid handy to cover the pan and remove it from the heat if this occurs.[/font]) Obviously, this step takes a bit of practice. You'll know by the resulting crust when you've got it right. The crust should come out dark brown and crunchy.

One the skillet is as hot as you dare, pour the batter into the middle of the pan and let it spread evenly. It should sizzle as you pour. Test your skillet with a small drop of the batter. If the batter dances and sizzles in the oil, you're about there. The better the dance, the better the crust will come out.

Pop the loaded skillet into the preheated oven (it must be at full temperature; a ballast is recommended) and bake for 25 minutes. The case

When done, turn the pone out onto a breadboard to keep the crust from burning in the pan. Don't fret if the pone sticks. In this case, turn the pan upside down on the breadboard with the handle propped up about an inch or so. The pone will steam itself loose from the pan.

The outside should be dark-brown and crunchy. The inside should be cakey and moist. Goes best with a pot of soup-beans but can be served with anything.

I can report that it makes a most-excellent hod for sweet cream butter.

If there are any leftovers, crumble some in a glass and soak with a bit of buttermilk for a bedtime snack.

If you're very fortunate and there's a sliver left for breakfast it also makes a most-excellent hod for butter and molasses.

If the crust is solid and crunchy, the pone will keep several days if covered loosely.

Y'all enjoy!!

[Are_grits_groceries]

87. Yummmmmmm!

I'm hungry now. Gonna eat some boiled peanuts I have stored.

[Syrinx]

89. thanks trof. Serves me right for believing the libertarian Alton Brown

[Arkansas Granny]

11. True story. As a young bride, I lived in Texas for a time because my husband,

who was in the Army, was stationed there. While there, I met other young women from all over the country. One day three of us were visiting and one of the girls (Texas native) asked me (from Missouri) and the other girl (from Michigan), "Y'all don't say y'all, do y'all?".

[HillWilliam]

15. Heh, I'm keepin' that! n/t

[raccoon]

13. I agree with most of yall's responses to the OP regarding the usage of "yall." nt

[mmonk]

17. I don't know about y'all, but I agree with the OP.

[Hosnon]

18. It's a natural contraction that fills a void in English.

Giving it up seems like a step backwards IMO.

[LiberalLoner]

19. Thanks for posting this, this is an interesting discussion!

I don't really belong anywhere. I was born in Alaska to parents who were from the West (Montana and California) and then moved all over the place (including Europe) because my father was in the Army. My mother, who was born and raised in western Montana, made sure all us kids knew we were from Montana and that was the only place to call home.

But I spent years in Georgia, years in Virginia, and many many years around people from the deep South, because the Army has quite a few people in it who grew up in the South.

I have the typical Montana accent - not southern, but not east coast either. Slower. Kind of a western drawl I guess. But I use "Y'all" and I really can't ever remember choosing to use that term, it was just always "there" for me. I have been laughed at by natives of Montana..."she said 'y'all' - ha ha ha!"

The term "y'all" is very seductive and very useful. But I'm sure it must seem funny to hear it coming from someone like me who has a Montana accent.

P.S. I never ate grits or polenta - not until I turned 18 and moved away from home. In western Montana, potato is king, just like in Idaho. The first time I encountered grits, in the dining facility of Basic Training in the Army, I put sugar and milk on it. I thought it was Cream of Wheat, which was what I grew up eating. The young man from South Carolina sitting across from me was horrified and told me of the grave mistake I had made.

[Capitalocracy]

24. Just occurred to me, there is another common form of second-person plural other than you

A lot of people use "you guys" or "you folks" to fill that gap.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. I use y'all on occasion. Not a lot, but I do use it.

I am from New England. I am most often mistaken for a New Yorker (NYC or nearby) or North Jersey. I am from close in Connecticut.

I've lived in Florida, both Carolinas, Tennessee, at both ends, and now Maryland. Central Maryland has more in common with other northeastern areas than with anything in the South

But y'all is there.

Y'all is a missing word in the English language, I always thought. I grew up with its Northern equivalent, "youze," as in "youze guys". It sounds dumb. Y'all doesn't sound dumb. It sounds soft and Southern.

[tledford]

27. And yet I'm a life-long Southerner with a noticeable accent ...

... who never uses the word "y'all." Somewhere in my teens "you guys" took its place.

[Fawke Em]

28. I use "y'all," but not in every sentence, like Paula Deen.

I didn't enter the Paula Deen wars on DU, but I say this: she over uses that word, y'all.

[Are_grits_groceries]

30. She either has Southern

Tourettes or she's putting on a show for the viewers.

[etherealtruth]

29. I grew up in Michigan

We grew up saying "You guys" ... so much classier than y'all, right?

I lived in Virginia in the 1990s ... within a year or two I unwittingly began saying "you all" ... it eventually changed to "y'all" ... I've been back in Michigan for over a decade ... I continue to say "y'all" (in the spirit of honesty it is a very "northern "y'all" and to true southerners it probably sounds more like "you all&quot .

I maintain its a better phrase for a collective "you" than "you guys"

[ljm2002]

31. I use the term "y'all" often...

...and I have no connection to the South other than living in the same country. The only time I've ever even been in the South was I once stayed in New Orleans for a few days on business. I've never been to Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, etc...

It's a great word!

(not arguing with you either, your observation may be correct that most who use it do have a Southern connection... just giving one counterexample)

[Tsiyu]

32. The true test:

"How's Y'Mama'nem?"

and the one my own Mama'nem HATE because I say it all the time: "Fixin' to" as in:

"I am fixin to call y'mama'nem over fer some hawg jowl 'n turnip greens. J'eatyet?"

[Are_grits_groceries]

33. Ha! Mamanem!

During a lunch break with some other teachers, a couple of friends I were talking about Mamanem this and Mamanem that. Another friend was sitting with a bewildered look on her face.

She finally asked, "What's a Mamanem?" We cracked up and told her it meant 'Mama and them'. It's another Southern pronoun.

Fixin' to is an indeterminate measure of time. It can mean anything from the next second to ten years from now or more. I love it, and it confuses the hell out of some people.

[MadrasT]

47. I am a Pennsylvania native,

Basically lived here all my life, and I somehow adopted "y'all" (and I also say "fixin' to&quot .

I just love Suthren talk, I guess.

You'd think living in Philly I would say "youse" but that really grates on my nerves. So y'all it is. (I use it in informal speech, when I need to be professional and proper, I might use the gramatically correct "you".)

[Iggo]

66. "My mother and her peer group."

[Ron Green]

34. What is this "fixin to?"

It's pronounced "finta."

[Are_grits_groceries]

35. True.

Just spelling it out in another version.

[HillWilliam]

83. HAH! I almost forgot about

Jeetchet.

"i made a pone of bread and a pot of beans. They're still warm. Jeetchet? They've plenty more."

A "pone" is always cornbread. One wouldn't say "a pone of cornbread" because that would be redundant.

A "pone" is baked in the oven. A "dodger" is made in an iron skillet and fried. A dodger is personal-sized like a biscuit.

Mammanem taught me how to make the perfect pone (see up-thread for the recipe).

[justiceischeap]

98. I'm originally from Missouri and we fix the hell out of things

We'd fix dinner or we'd be fixin' to go somewhere... Sometimes we'd warsh (wash) things or we'd have a hole in the ruff (roof). As a kid I played in the crick (creek) and catch crawdaddy's (um, I guess they're like baby shrimp).

When I moved to Pennsylvania, things would be broke (instead of broken) and man, did that drive me nuts. I stopped "fixing" things after a girlfriend made fun of me for it. I told her I was going to fix dinner and she asked me if it was... broke.

As far as y'all is concerned, I adopted it after hearing Emily from the Indigo Girls say it at a concert. I loved it. To me saying, "Thanks y'all" seems much more genuine than "Thank you."

I was having a discussion with a co-worker the other day about dialects and accents, lamenting about the fact they seem to be dying away. People move around so often, that our language is becoming homogenized, I think.

[HillWilliam]

99. I have a crick at the bottom of my property

My grandparents had a "sprang" (a spring or tiny brook). There was a "spranghouse" (springhouse) on a little artesian spring that bubbled up naturally. We often would cool things in the springhouse. When I was little, I'd sit in the springhouse when the weather was hot outside. It was the only air-conditioned place there was; that is, natural a/c from the cool water flowing through.

My brother and I also played in the sprang and caught crawdads. Until I lived in Louisiana, I had no idea they were edible.

Anything with a load of garlic and butter can't be bad!! Ayyyyyyeeee!! mmMMMmmm dot good!

[ananda]

36. I'm Texan and I use ya'll all the time.

It just works.

[Odin2005]

37. But if you use "y'guys" you are definitely from the Midwest.

Oh, and if you say "spendy" to mean expensive and "hotdish" for casserole you are definitely from the Upper Midwest.

[HillWilliam]

84. If you're really from the south

you'll include a nannerpuddin.

It is most decidedly not "banana pudding". That implies that one might be serving something substandard.

When we check on our neighbors and find them in bad times or ill health, a nannerpuddin is exactly the correct pickmeup. The question isn't "if" you'll make a nannerpuddin. The question is "how much"

[limpyhobbler]

42. southern accents are the best thing about the south. Please keep them. nt

[Iggo]

64. Gawd yes!

[hughee99]

43. I grew up in Massachusett and use y'all often,

picked it up from my father.

[RebelOne]

46. I was born in the north, and my parents moved me to Miami

when I was 5 years old. Then in 1989, I moved to the Atlanta area. I have rarely used the term y'all other than in a joking mode, and I have never heard it from any Georgia natives.

[jwirr]

48. Not proof in all cases. I say that and have never been further south than Nebraska.

[Arugula Latte]

49. I have relatives (Ohio) who say "youse."

That is just awful.

[arely staircase]

50. it is actually an improvement on the "you" for the second person plural because

Last edited Sat Feb 4, 2012, 10:07 PM - Edit history (1)

it distinguishes it from the second person singular "you." every (i think) group of english speakers has developed an informal second person plural because of this ambiguity - yous, etc.

when i teach spanish verb conjugations i let students know that tu means you and ustedes means you (as in y'all.)

and as far as it being used for one person - i know some, but not many, people who do that. usually rural folks - not necessarily uneducated. "y'all be careful" i have been told when leaving people's houses alone.

[EFerrari]

61. Maybe "you guys" is or was the West Coast "youse".

[arely staircase]

67. and applies to both genders, no?

Last edited Sat Feb 4, 2012, 10:45 PM - Edit history (1)

also, i reread my post and corrected a typo - ustedes (not usted) is y'all. i guess if you wanted to get really technical y'all is vosotros since it is informal, but i don't require my kids to learn it since texas spanish is mexican spanish.

[EFerrari]

75. All genders.

And we never used "vos" here. For some reason it was understood to be insulting along a class basis. I don't get it but then, I didn't make the rules. lol

[kwassa]

55. Driving cross-country from California to Florida, I first heard "y'all" in use in Arizona .....

and from there the rest of the way across to the southern East Coast. It is very widely used!

[pinboy3niner]

58. The Northern clue

[ohheckyeah]

62. In the area of Virginia

where I'm from y'all is always plural.

[Iggo]

63. It's the American English word for "ustedes".

I use it all the time.

[arely staircase]

69. yep, as i said upthread it is probably more vosotros - informal

but nobody here uses the vosotros form so i don't teach it. i tell my east texas students that tu means you and ustedes means y'all

[RainDog]

70. You can test your accent here

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

mine says southern.

no trace of boston or north central, but traces of other regions.

[underpants]

71. The closer Eric Cantor gets to Richmond the more he has a southern accent

He grew up in Richmond - went to a private Catholic school - and got apointed by Tom Bliley/Univeral Leaf to be a Congressman.

[Tennessee Gal]

72. "Ya'll" is beautiful to this southern gal. However ......

I sometimes hear the term "you'ins" used and it is so irritating. The first time I heard it I was in a public place and embarrassed myself by laughing aloud.

[RainDog]

73. I always associated that word with Pennsylvania

b/c that's the only place I ever heard it used.

[Tennessee Gal]

76. It is used in some areas of Tennesse, but

I had not heard it until I was about 25 and I am a Tennessee native.

[barbtries]

74. i moved from CA to NC

and i use it more than i did back home. been here all of 4 years now. y'all.

[HillWilliam]

85. "Your people" meaning "your immediate family"

"How are your people?" would inquire about another's family; amongst the DAR and UDC crowds it also means your family tree.

Reciting one's complete lineage for at least five generations (I can recite 10) is expected. A lady orgentleman should also know how to play at least one hymn on the piano even if s/he can't play shit-else

I have another regionalism:

My dad's people (12 generations) all live around Albemarle Sound. They (and consequently I) go ite and abite and occasionally a mice in the hice.

That's as close as I can spell it with English orthography. The actual pronunciation is closer to going aüt and abaüt or trapping a maüs that got into your haüs.

If you hear those pronunciations, you're in the presence of a true Toidworter (Tidewater) person. (The toid rolls in and the toid rolls aüt LOL)

[XemaSab]

86. I grew up in Oakland

and I picked it up from the black people there.

[Are_grits_groceries]

88. 'Bald Peanuts'

aka boiled peanuts. I loves me some boiled peanuts, the saltier the better.
They are another cultural marker. I could eat them nonstop. A lot of peope have never heard of them.

(this has been a fun thread)

[HillWilliam]

100. I use peanut awl

in cooking. I do occasionally check th'awl in the car. Cars don't run well without awl. If it's low, I put some more in-nair.

When I drive I make sure to abide lawn awda. The po-leece don't like it when when you step outside lawn awda.

[Justice wanted]

95. hmmm interesting, however The Pittsburgh area and most of Western Pa us a term that is

strickly from that region. Alls y'all. I use it. I've know "perfessionals" that use it in dialog. It is just a Pittsburghese thing.

so above the mason dixon line a form of y'all is used.

[Tracer]

97. This is a very interesting thread.

Of course, being a born and bred Bostonian, I've never used the word y'all in any construction.

For those who are interested, there is a regular column in the Sunday Boston Globe called "The Word" which examines the etymology of certain words, phrases, slang, new constructions in the English language.

I'm sure that you would enjoy it.

[HillWilliam]

101. Kicking again

This is an interesting thread.