Another Week.. Another Round of Idiots!

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

Its a regional dialect. And y'all is a good word. Try it on for size one day. Trip out your mates.

Since most English dialects have lost the 2nd person plural, 'y'all' is an excellent word. It fills a void.

Around here, 'y'all' is 2nd person plural so it's never used for just one person except by mistake. 'All y'all' is for a real crowd.

[Metody]

I've heard 'y'all' for one person, 'y'alls' for three or four (and the possessive) and 'all y'all' for many.

But I'm from Pittsburgh, so mostly I hear 'yinz' - its a corrupted form of 'you ones' (Because an individual thing is 'one', so two things must be 'ones', right?) Much like 'y'all', 'yinz' can refer to individual people or to groups. A really big group, though, or two groups, is referred to as 'yinzes'.

Mmm, dialects. Tasty.

[Seshat]

Since most English dialects have lost the 2nd person plural, 'y'all' is an excellent word. It fills a void.

Actually, we lost the 2nd person singular. Thee/thou/thy (subject/object/possessive) was the singular, became singular formal with you/you/your as a kind of singular informal, then fell out of use entirely.

As for the Lexi/Betsy problem: I have a hearing problem (yes, another type of brokenness) that can't be corrected by hearing aids. My particular one causes me to have trouble distinguishing certain consonantal sounds - the 'X' vs 'TS' distinction is one of the ones that screws up. I also don't clearly hear the sharp tone of the 'B'.

Without being able to lip-read the differences, it'd be quite easy for me to interpret "(indistinct consonant) - (E) - (TS or X or KS or similar) - (I or Y)" as the familiar name Betsy rather than the unfamiliar name Lexi.

On the other hand, I try to be gracious about my hearing problem. And I hate using the phone.

[AdminAssistant]

Actually, according to my English-Redneck Dictionary (and a couple of Arkansas buddies), "y'all" is singular. The plural is "all y'all".

Arkansan here! I've never used y'all to refer to one person. I do, however, use it frequently. That, combined with my use of sir and ma'am and my frequency to get into a really strong accent when I get upset gets me a lot of strange looks up here in KC.

[Captain Trips]

Actually, we lost the 2nd person singular. Thee/thou/thy (subject/object/possessive) was the singular, became singular formal with you/you/your as a kind of singular informal, then fell out of use entirely.

Not quite right. Being heavily involved in Renaissance faires, and having taken several classes on Elizabethan English, I can tell you that it wasn't "thou is singular and you is plural" or "thou became formal." Actually, both "thee/thou/thy" and "you/your/yours" have the same meaning, but differ in who is doing the speaking and who is being spoken to. It is a show of "station in life." Back then, there wasn't much upward or downward mobility in class. That is, once a peasant, always a peasant. The word "thee" was used towards those lower in station than oneself, and "you" to those higher. (In this usage, "thee/thou/thy" was actually LESS formal, not more.)

Thus, you would never call the queen "thy majesty" and conversely she would never address one as "you." ("Dost thou take me for a fool, Lord Chamberlain?" "Certainly not, your majesty!") Except her horse -- the only creature fit to bear the queen would of course be one superior to herself.

Of course, Ren Faires are more shows than living history, so although we are taught the difference, we are also taught to use "thee/thy/thou" with all the customers, because that's what they expect. (In fact, a merchant would refer to his customers with "you" as a form of marketing -- "Of course, you would know better than me, I am but a lowly merchant of wares m'lord!")


Here's the really confusing part: both "thou" and "you" were spelled "Y - O - U." But in context, the first letter was either "thorn" or "wye" -- both letters being different, but looking identical. And that's how "thou" became "you" -- because over time people forgot about the difference between "thorn" and "wye."

Of course, y'all was "right out!" And even more so, "th'all!"

[TealJellyfish]

Wow... I didn't expect to start an in depth discussion on the word "y'all"

Its not really something you hear in Australia... who knew it was so complicated!

[zzapp the witch]

Meh, I use *mates* *no worries* and other Aussie slang cause its useful and to the point. Why not trade up some cool phrases?

[TealJellyfish]

Meh, I use *mates* *no worries* and other Aussie slang cause its useful and to the point. Why not trade up some cool phrases?

I dont use mate. I always feel stupid when I say it for some reason

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Y'all can be anything from 1 to 4 people. Then it's all y'all up to 15. After that it's you'ins.

Which would be "ya'll" plus 3.