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by ksherlock9 hours ago |
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upvoteby madcaptenor7 hours ago|
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Before I moved to the South I (a non-Southerner) did not feel comfortable saying "y'all". But "you guys" seemed sexist. I have since spent a decade in the South and I have not picked up much of the dialect, but I definitely say "y'all" now.

"W'all" would be nice to have. I guess it's not a thing because it sounds too much like the things that separate rooms.

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upvoteby lamasery5 hours ago|
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"Guys" (without a "the" in front of it) is uncontroversially gender-neutral in most contexts in at least some parts of the US. I'm not sure whether folks worried about it are from places where it's definitely not, or places where it's not used much at all so they're not aware that it's a non-issue in (at least many) places where it is.

I do prefer "y'all", though. I think it's the best one we've got, of the options ("yous" being another big one, and ew, gross)

I also love the nuance of "y'all" and "all y'all".

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upvoteby saltcured7 hours ago|
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Have you yet progressed to y'all being singular and all y'all being plural?
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upvoteby madcaptenor6 hours ago|
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No. As far as I can tell, singular "y'all", when it exists, is an implied plural. What you might hear as singular "y'all" is, say, when you go into a restaurant and say "do y'all have Coke?" to the server - that doesn't refer to just the server but to the restaurant as a whole. But I'm not a linguist and also I don't spend much time among people with heavier Southern dialect, so you shouldn't believe what I say.
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upvoteby saltcured4 hours ago|
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I've had it explained to me as a western/eastern divide among southerners. As you head through Texas, more people think you need "all y'all" for plurals.

That's something those western southerners told me. I don't know if a linguist would agree, but that seems to be the understanding of some actual language users...

All I know is that there is a second boundary somewhere through TX, NM, and AZ, because I've never met a native Californian who would say "y'all" non ironically.

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upvoteby pessimizer5 hours ago|
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No, you've got it right. A lot of people trying to be cute and make southern language seem more alien than it is are over-"correcting."

When southern people say y'all to one person, they're really addressing you and your family (even though you might be the only one there.) If I ask "how y'all doing?" I want to know how you and yours are doing.

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upvoteby macintux3 hours ago|
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> If I ask "how y'all doing?" I want to know how you and yours are doing.

I just want people to stop asking me how I'm doing if they don't care.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that "How's it going" is a greeting, not an interrogative, and I want that change undone forever.

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upvoteby FarmerPotato36 minutes ago|
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Don't forget to end the conversation with "God be with ye". Or "A Dios".
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upvoteby saltcured3 hours ago|
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What's interesting is you may reply, "hey, how are you?", and lots of people may be satisfied with that. Neither party actually answers how they are, yet the handshake is complete.
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upvoteby macintux3 hours ago|
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I refuse out of principle, but agree, that works.

I just use "Howdy".

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upvoteby ptmcc2 hours ago|
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Which is short for "How do you do?"
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upvoteby macintux2 hours ago|
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Good point! I guess my principles only extend so far.
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upvoteby chadd5 hours ago|
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i tried to stop using y'all when i got my first job at MSFT, having grown up in the South; then 10 years later I realized it's perfect for Corporate America given it's gender neutral
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upvoteby kevin_thibedeau3 hours ago|
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I grew up saying it and consciously eradicated it around 3rd grade. I probably shouldnt've but it would seem forced to do it now.
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upvoteby madcaptenor4 hours ago|
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meanwhile, my New Jersey-born boss uses "you guys" despite herself being female and having lived in the South longer than I have
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upvoteby thechao8 hours ago|
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You, y'all (small close group), y'all all (larger, further group), and "all y'all" — Southeast Texas (coastal) dialect form that showed up about 25 yrs ago. I suspect it might've been there all along, but only became acceptable at that point?

Another 100+ years, and this'll be some solid grammar.

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upvoteby gibspaulding8 hours ago|
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Don’t forget you’uns or yinz!

I struggled with this when I was a school teacher. English lacks a good way to clarify you are addressing a group vs one person, which comes up a lot in a classroom. “Class, you…” is clunky, “You guys…” has obvious issues, and y’all or any other contraction is generally considered bad grammar. I generally went with y’all. Kids would laugh about it, but that seemed to help get their attention.

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upvoteby dfxm127 hours ago|
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Surely, you knew all of your students' names and if you were addressing one person, you could've used their name. Addressing the class as merely "class" seems adequate as well. I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation where you are forced to use "you" ambiguously.
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upvoteby madcaptenor7 hours ago|
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What if you're addressing part of the class, though? Like "y'all in the back, you need to get back to your work".
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upvoteby dfxm126 hours ago|
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"You in the back" has the same level of specificity. Other options include (again) naming names or calling out a more specific location "You in the back row".
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upvoteby madcaptenor6 hours ago|
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No, because "you in the back" could refer to just one person in the back, instead of several. So "y'all in the back" is more specific. (Of course names are an option in this context.)
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upvoteby dfxm126 hours ago|
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(Of course names are an option in this context.)

Yes, this is a case where you aren't forced to use "you" ambiguously in that context.

No, because "you in the back" could refer to just one person in the back, instead of several.

If you meant to address one person, you'd have said that one person's name, instead of voluntarily introducing ambiguity to the situation. Context & body language also makes this obvious. If you meant one person, you'd be making eye contact with one person instead of a group of people, etc. Students also know if they're paying attention or not. "The back" is not a specific area.

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upvoteby teddyh3 hours ago|
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“Now, chat, settle down.”
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upvoteby AndrewKemendo8 hours ago|
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That has to be more than 25 years

I grew up in Houston saying all that in the 80s

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upvoteby thechao1 hours ago|
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Same here, frankly. I just didn't want to make an aggressive generalization that I couldn't support. I've got video of the usage from 2001.
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upvoteby pessimizer5 hours ago|
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It's probably closer to 250 years than 25.
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