mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 (edited) Well, sure. If you are speaking french, it is appropriate to do with a french accent. But I don't understand what that has to do with this conversation. Are you saying if you go to the south you should pretend to sound like you are from there? Because to me, that is making fun of people. But how am I suppposed to know if you are excellent at customer service or your job if you sound like you don't know how to speak? Oh goodness, I really cannot believe that I have to spell this out for you. Appropriate times for "proper" English with as little dialectical/minimally accented as possible, for such events as interviews or public speaking would be naturally presumed. With ones own family and friends or with certain types of jobs in a particular region, one may use their own dialect, quirks and all, and as heavy as an accent as they are accustomed to. There are certain situations certain service people are put in where saying "ya'll" or "hon" could diffuse a potential issue, keep another person calm, or even cause one to appear more friendly rather than stand offish. This is also considered "appropriate usage". On the last part, it is your own assumptions based on a faulty foundation and a bias you seem to be choosing to feed. BTW, I know an illiterate person that is excellent with money. I didn't "assume" anything about him based on his speech or his inability to read. Edited August 24, 2010 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 (edited) We were taught it makes people sound uneducated and ignorant. And don't flame me and tell me you say it and how educated you are. You can be very educated. But if you y'all through an entire conversation, it makes you SOUND uneducated. Ha! That's just Yankee predjudice! (I confess that I had the same reaction to southern accents when I first moved to the South. I think it was because I had only heard them used on TV on shows like the Beverly Hillbillies.) I revised my opinion many years back. :D I converted to y'all because it fills in gap in English and is mighty convenient for differentiating the person or people one is addressing. Y'all Yankees sound unedgeecated when you snort y'all's vowels up y'all's noses! :lol::auto: Edited August 24, 2010 by Laurie4b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 The right way: y'all. It's a contraction of you + all = y'all. I'm from the South, so I know, but I do have a poor, dear, misguided friend from further south (Missippi, to be exact, and that's no typo, that's how she says it) who spells it wrong: ya'll. Like fingernails down the chalkboard to see it that way! That is all! ;) :lol: We just returned from a trip to visit my family in TN. We ended up in Missippi (on purpose), and I had to explain to my wonderful, WI born dh how to say it properly. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 No, it makes you sound like you're from the South. I have never met a person who does not say "y'all," including every prof at every college I've ever attended. I think there is a natural linguistic pull toward filling holes in the language, from second person plural to clarifying (and sometimes DE-clarifying) pronouns. Ty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I am from the south and my parents are from the deep south. I do use the word "yall" in conversation with good friends, but I do not use it in written form. I think if you're going to write out the word at all you have broken far enough from proper grammar usage that it really doesn't matter how you write it. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 This conversation makes me wonder what anyone that complains about "ya'll, y'all, yall" would feel about Geeche... :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyfulMama Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I'm wondering if "youtz" is ever heard outside the more local area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I'm wondering if "youtz" is ever heard outside the more local area... I don't think so. I've only heard it here, personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I grew up in the south and always saw it spelled "ya'll" on the few occasions it was spelled. It was not until I got to college that northerners tried to tell me it should be "y'all." I agree that it follows contraction rules, but I still can't accept it. It just looks wrong to me. Presumably this sort of attitude is what got English into most of our spelling messes, of which there are so very many... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 As has been stated before: "English is a mongrel that follows other languages down dark alleys, assaults them, and goes through their pockets looking for loose grammar." English is constantly changing, never consistent, has many variables and dialects, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 No, it makes you sound like you're from the South. I have never met a person who does not say "y'all," including every prof at every college I've ever attended. That depends who is listening, as I'm sure we all understand. I think there is a natural linguistic pull toward filling holes in the language, from second person plural to clarifying (and sometimes DE-clarifying) pronouns.Indeed; but I still couldn't bring myself to say ya'll or y'all, or even "youse" which is more culturally appropriate here. "You lot" sounds so much better, but no I don't use that in a formal setting :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 As has been stated before: "English is a mongrel that follows other languages down dark alleys, assaults them, and goes through their pockets looking for loose grammar." English is constantly changing, never consistent, has many variables and dialects, etc. Thanks for posting this, it is funny and SO TRUE! I will share it with my teens, they will appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Thanks for posting this, it is funny and SO TRUE! I will share it with my teens, they will appreciate it! I highly recommend the book "The Story of English". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 My grandmother got into painting t-shirts and things when I was a kid. She showed up at our house one year proudly sporting a sweatshirt that said, "Merry Christmas, ya'll." My 7yo self proceeded to stand there and correct her punctuation. She was more flabbergasted than anything, but she argued with me. My dad had to step in & tell me I was being disrespectful. And as soon as she was out of earshot, he grinned & told me I was right. :lol: Fwiw, grm's family was from Mississippi. (A long time ago.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 One of my sisters (SC) read this thread and said that if/when she has spelled it, it's been without an apostrophe "yall". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Ahhhh, but how do you say "wash", LOL? (This from someone who is from TN.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Beats the northern "you guys" or worse, "youse guys" in my book! I've lived under both systems. :001_smile: Or y'uns as my mom and all her family says (rural MO). Ahhhh, but how do you say "wash", LOL? (This from someone who is from TN.....) Again, my mom and her family would say "warsh." :glare: When my dh first met them years ago, he couldn't understand much of what my grandmother was saying. I had never really thought about it before then since I'd grown up listening to it. :) I love listening to my gma now, though. So precious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Beats the northern "you guys" or worse, "youse guys" in my book! I've lived under both systems. :001_smile: :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Now see, I'd debate this. In my experience (Southern born and raised), y'all is never used in the singular. Except in Hollywood productions with poor dialect coaches. Absolutely. :iagree: I'm also a Southerner--born in Georgia, raised in Georgia, still living in Georgia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceinMD Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 :svengo: Unless you are writing dialogue for a southern epic, the contraction of you all never needs to be spelled, does it? I usually write ya'll (contraction of ya all (grammar rules notwithstanding)). My dh is a linguist and he would agree that language is dynamic, not static, and thus, ya'll will eventually make its way into the language. My problem is that my email "auto-correcter" is apparently not from the same part of the south that I am: it consistently changes my "ya'll" to "y'all!" Maybe you're right, Daisy, and I should just stop writing it altogether! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrtmama Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 It's a contraction of "you all." "Y'all" is the only acceptable way to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 *Spell* it?!? You mean people actually commit this word to print? I had a glass of wine with dinner tonight, and was horrified to discover that in my compromised state, this word slipped out of my mouth. I did grow up in Oklahoma, so I'll use that as my excuse. But, good heavens, I'd never put it in writing!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I usually write ya'll (contraction of ya all (grammar rules notwithstanding)). My dh is a linguist and he would agree that language is dynamic, not static, and thus, ya'll will eventually make its way into the language. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 We were taught it makes people sound uneducated and ignorant. And don't flame me and tell me you say it and how educated you are. You can be very educated. But if you y'all through an entire conversation, it makes you SOUND uneducated. No it doesn't. It makes you sound Southern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooblink Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Y'all - singular All y'all - plural Y'all's - possessive Y'all put a smile on my face. All y'all with y'all's perspectives. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 (edited) Ha! That's just Yankee predjudice! (I confess that I had the same reaction to southern accents when I first moved to the South. I think it was because I had only heard them used on TV on shows like the Beverly Hillbillies.) I revised my opinion many years back. :D I converted to y'all because it fills in gap in English and is mighty convenient for differentiating the person or people one is addressing. Y'all Yankees sound unedgeecated when you snort y'all's vowels up y'all's noses! :lol::auto: Hey now! This Yank loves dialect tweaks. And, I love how people who speak with a dialect disarm those around them. It's fun to meet the president of a bank, or more recently, a tobacco company, that y'alls all over the place and yet has a private jet fly him home each night. I don't those men sound uneducated because they say y'all. They sound like they're southern gentlemen. Edited August 24, 2010 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 No the sky didn't fall. But I'd really have to think long and hard about hiring you for a job if you youzed or y'alled through the interview. And I'd end up checking my reciept to make sure you charged me correctly if you were ringing up my bill for something. I don't need your stinkin job. I will hire YOU though. ;) We need a chemist if you happen to be one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Y'all - singularAll y'all - plural Y'all's - possessive Y'all put a smile on my face. All y'all with y'all's perspectives. :) :lol::lol::lol: O forgot about "All y'all!" :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I don't need your stinkin job. I will hire YOU though. ;) We need a chemist if you happen to be one. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 So people who say it's never ok to say y'all... would you say 'you all'? If so, why is it ok to say the words but not the contraction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Ahhhh, but how do you say "wash", LOL? (This from someone who is from TN.....) I say it "WASH." See? There's no "r" in that word. [There is also no "s" in Revelation, as in the last book of the Bilbe. Just sayin'. ;)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Well, sure. If you are speaking french, it is appropriate to do with a french accent. But I don't understand what that has to do with this conversation. Are you saying if you go to the south you should pretend to sound like you are from there? Because to me, that is making fun of people. No, but if you visited France and held their accents against them, well that would just be presumptuous. No one expects you to talk like you are from the south, simply not to hold it against them especially if you happen to be in the south. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I actually see absolutely nothing wrong with this word provided of course that it is spelled corretly, you all = y'all. It follows the English language contraction rules and serves a usefully purpose. I just which we could come up with a neutral gender pronoun that worked as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 So people who say it's never ok to say y'all... would you say 'you all'? If so, why is it ok to say the words but not the contraction? Because I'm Australian, not an American from the South. :D Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Because I'm Australian, not an American from the South. :D Rosie Right. But I guess my question was more about why is the contraction itself an issue, from a proper grammar perspective. If the phrase 'you all' is acceptable, then why wouldn't 'y'all' be appropriate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 y'all? Just curious :D Someone else may have pointed this out, but it is a contraction of you and all and is therefore spelled y'all. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 I love LFC for the reason they discuss the use of y'all. :D The town next to ours has a big highway sign that uses y'all in the town greeting. If that's Florence, the story I've heard is they discovered after the fact that they couldn't put the name of a business on government property. So Mall was painted out to read Y'all. That's what I've always heard from my family in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 y'all? Just curious :D But only if it is larger than a sloop but smaller than a schooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.