If the reader were to ever find himself travelling in the south of the United States, he will probably notice two things right off, the first being the ridiculous amount of Waffle House restaurants he will see, the second being the local dialect that is spoken throughout Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, Texas, etc. (Excepting portions of Florida, half of that state is taken up with retirees from the Northern States, called "snow birds")

One of the mainstays of this vocabulary is the use and understanding of the second person plural word "y'all" and its variants. Y'all is contraction of sorts, a shortening of the phrase "you-all". As you may note, even the long form of this phrase stands on shaky grammatical footing, but lets face it, Americans have a tendancy to bend the rules where grammar is concerned; sometimes for the better, sometimes just becuase they feel like it.

Y'all should be used to address a smallish group of people. (1-5 persons). It is an all inclusive phrase in its ambiguity. It certainly comes in handy when you are addressing a group and you dont want to use the Yankee equivalents of "youse" (New York) or "you guys" (Boston).

Now, if you are addressing a larger group of people, the phrase "all y'all" should be used. "All y'all" is, of course "all of you all" which makes absolutely no sense, but I've already treated the subject of the great American respect for proper grammar and spelling. An example of this would be if addressing a larger group of people. If one were, say, addressing a crowd of rowdy students, the following would be completely in order: "All y'all better listen up!".

Certainly this researcher had more than a little problem with it when he moved below the Mason-Dixon line, but over the years, the phrase has grown on him to such an extent, that he now harbors a deep affection for it. He even likes using it when he can.