h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always been dissatisfied with the dual role of the word "You" in the English language to be both singular and plural. It leads to confusion.

e.g. someone says to David cameron "How do you react to this", do they mean Dave personally, or the Conservative Party as the group he is part of.

There are two alternative plurals that I am left to choose from. One is popular in Liverpool and New jersey among other places, and that is "Youse". This seems like a slightly ugly sounding word though. Henceforth, my second person plural of choice will be the American "y'all'. So, if you wanted to know the Conservative party's stance, you would ask Cameron "How do y'all react to this". Problem solved.

What about a French-style social split, where the 'posh you' could be 'youse' and the 'informal you' would be 'y'all'?

B

Y'all don't know what youse is talkin' about.

Y'all crept into my verbal vocabulary fairly quickly when I lived in the South. It's a versatile word, worthy of expanded use.

As is like, Like.

Remember that you can always add emphasis by using the "All Y'all" variant.

Since Y'all is derived from 'all of you', it is the perfect plural. I find the snobs who denigrate it and it's users rather ridiculous. Language is supposed to evolve. And the point of spoken language is communication and clarity, after all.

Y'all come back now, y'hear!

I was just informed by a woman who was raised in Georgia that in the deep south (as opposed to the Ozarks) y'all can be singular or plural whereas all y'all is always plural. We use y'all in the Ozarks, but I seldom hear all y'all.

/Youse/ is also heard in Dublin, and, I believe, in Northern Ireland. Round here, in the midlands, /ye/ is more common, though it can also be used in the singular.

TRiG.