Are non-southerners allowed to use "y'all"?

More Than A Feeling

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:12 AM
Original message

Are non-southerners allowed to use "y'all"?

Edited on Wed Nov-30-05 02:13 AM by Heaven and Earth

I like it much better than "you guys" which seems to be the standard that I have heard where I live (northern Illinois). Are there any other regional options for addressing more than one person in the second person?

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:14 AM
Response to Original message

1. I use it once in awhile

Edited on Wed Nov-30-05 02:15 AM by Oeditpus Rex

and I'm a born-and-bred Kollyforniyan.

'course, my folks were from Arkansas...

Edit: As long as you spell it "y'all" instead of "ya'll," what's the problem?

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:15 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. Really???

My dad was from Arkansas! Howdy, ya'll!

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:23 AM
Response to Reply #2

5. What part?

I'm guessing northern; Little Rock or above. Fayetteville, maybe (pronounced "Fait-vul"). :7

My folks were from the southeast part. Seems like everybody I've ever met with an Arkansas connection, it was north or northeast. :-(

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:25 AM
Response to Reply #5

6. Well, dad was born in Oil Trough (don't laugh!)

but grew up in Newark, not far from Batesville. Great, great place for a kid! I lived there in first grade, had the same first grade teacher my dad did!

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:33 AM
Response to Reply #6

11. Had to look up those towns

Never heard of 'em. If you'd said "Between Searcy and Jonesboro," I'da been there.

Go due south from there a couple hundred miles; you'll run into Monticello. Hang a right and there's Warren. That's where my folks were from.

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:35 AM
Response to Reply #11

13. Jonesboro!

I must be tired! Spent lots of time there!

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:37 AM
Response to Reply #13

16. Pronounced 'Jones-bruh'

Edited on Wed Nov-30-05 02:38 AM by Oeditpus Rex

:hi:

(Edited to clarify pronunciation for Nawthunuhs.)

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:43 AM
Response to Reply #16

22. I know....

If I wrote the way Southerners talk, lots of people wouldn't understand what I was saying!

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BikeWriter

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:11 AM
Response to Reply #6

41. Don't feel bashful. Coal Hill is where my Dad and Grampaw...

were both born. ;-)

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More Than A Feeling

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:16 AM
Response to Reply #1

3. Well, I hope to move to Virginia or North Carolina

I don't want the natives to think I'm weird saying "y'all" in a vague-but-noticeable south-side Chicago accent.

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:25 AM
Response to Reply #3

7. Just don't say

"Da y'all."

:rofl:

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:26 AM
Response to Reply #7

8. Or, even worse

"You all" :rofl:

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mykpart

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:19 AM
Response to Original message

4. Y'all is a contraction of You all,

which is the plural of You. I hear non-southerners use the expression "you all" all the time. ie, "I would like to thank you all for coming here today." "Will you all please sit down?" I does sound nicer than "you guys."

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:36 AM
Response to Reply #4

14. There's no singular or plural to 'y'all'

To a Suthuhna, one person can be "y'all" or a group can be "y'all." If a Suthuhna wishes to sound educated, he'll refer to a group as "all y'all."

:rofl:

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mykpart

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:47 AM
Response to Reply #14

26. You're dead wrong, there, Rex.

I am a southerner, and nothing will make a southerner think you are a moron faster than using "y'all" for one person. Although I have heard the expression, "all y'all."

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:51 AM
Response to Reply #26

30. Well, I've known a mess o' Suthuhnas in my life

and pretty much all of 'em said "y'all" in reference to one person. Not as a rule, of course, but alternately.

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:27 AM
Response to Original message

9. I'm Southern, but find myself using "Use Guys" a lot.....

...what does that mean?....:shrug:

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RevCheesehead

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:37 AM
Response to Reply #9

15. sounds like an imperative to me.

:shrug: what?
:evilgrin:

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:40 AM
Response to Reply #15

18. You know, such as, "Use guys wanna grab some hots?".....

...Translation: Would everyone like to get some hot dogs?....:evilgrin:

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RevCheesehead

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:41 AM
Response to Reply #18

19. No...

as in "the secret to a happy love life is to use guys."

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:48 AM
Response to Reply #19

27. You're being too precise. By using "Use" instead of "Youuussee"...

...I was just trying to make it easier to understand for our Northern cousins....:P

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RevCheesehead

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:50 AM
Response to Reply #27

28. and you're missing my dazzling intellectual wit...

You asked "what does this mean?" :P

That's OK - Vikings fans are notoriously slow. :evilgrin:

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:51 AM
Response to Reply #28

29. You have wit?.....

...that's a first for a cheesehead....:evilgrin:

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RevCheesehead

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:56 AM
Response to Reply #29

33. Astonishing, isn't it?

Sometimes I even amaze myself. O8)

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:00 AM
Response to Reply #33

35. Yes it is. Maybe you could bottle it, and pass it around.....

...Lambeau Field. That would probably pick the collective IQ level up at least 60%....}(

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RevCheesehead

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:03 AM
Response to Reply #35

38. Please note that I'm not arguing with you on that.

I really can recognize the truth.
Besides, half of those folks come up from Milwaukee. :7

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RevCheesehead

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:27 AM
Response to Original message

10. absolutely.

I lived in NC for 10 years. I often find myself slipping into Southern-speak at times. I have a good ear, and a good ability to imitate accents (and people).

I can even imitate Wisconsinites - by region.

Y'all is the best possessive plural out there, and it needs to be used.

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misanthrope

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:34 AM
Response to Original message

12. It's another one of those...

...Southern things that soaked into the African-American vernacular then spread in the post-Civil War Black Diaspora across the nation. You can find it all over popular music (hip-hop) now.

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Prisoner_Number_Six

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:39 AM
Response to Original message

17. I'm from Indiana, but I lived in Nashville for 17 years

I would like to think I qualify to say it properly and with respect.

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:43 AM
Response to Reply #17

21. Hey, I've grown up in Nashville all my life, and 17 years qualifies you...

...as an honorary resident Nashvillian. I appreciate the the respect and love....:toast:

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Syncronaut Seven

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:41 AM
Response to Original message

20. In refined company, of course!

I'm an accent chameleon, It's fun to watch, happens without even thinking.

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Swamp Rat

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:43 AM
Response to Original message

23. NO! ... Now give it back!

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:45 AM
Response to Reply #23

24. Hey you!

Hope you are doing well! And since I'm half southern, is it okay with you that I use ya'll sometimes? :hi:

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Swamp Rat

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:52 AM
Response to Reply #24

31. Sure!

Just be sure spell it y'all. ;)

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SeattleGirl

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:59 AM
Response to Reply #31

34. Not only can I speak southern

Ah cain spell suthern too!

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Swamp Rat

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:03 AM
Response to Reply #34

37. To be honest, I am not "Southern."

I am from New Orleans. The South is North of us, dawlin'. ;) :D

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:08 AM
Response to Reply #37

40. I can back that up. As a life-long Southerner....

...we always considered y'all French, since the Napoleanic Code rules the land down there...

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Swamp Rat

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:17 AM
Response to Reply #40

43. Oui!

:D

Actually, "the South" is only about an hour (by car) North of New Orleans, where everyone starts to tawk fuunny. We in Nuawlins toahk like da peeps from Brooklyn, brah. :D

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Robeson

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:45 AM
Response to Reply #23

25. I got your back on that one, Swamp Rat.....

...:hippie:

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Swamp Rat

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Wed Nov-30-05 02:52 AM
Response to Reply #25

32. Obrigado!

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fleabert

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:01 AM
Response to Original message

36. all y'all can, if y'all can use it right!

;-)

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LuCifer

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:06 AM
Response to Original message

39. correct me if I'm wrong...

...but I've been told (so you KNOW it MUST be true!) that "y'all" was a term that originated from...THE NORTH!

But let's just keep on going on and on and on about THE NORTH, THE SOUTH, THE MID WEST, THE WEST COAST, ETC AND SO ON. Forget just being AMERICANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lu Cifer, so can we lighten things up by talking about abortion?

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Oeditpus Rex

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Wed Nov-30-05 03:14 AM
Response to Reply #39

42. Yeah... and while we're at it

let's just do away with all those pesky state borders, too.

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