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Taverner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:49 PM
Original message
Poll question: How do you spell "YALL"
As in you all
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datasuspect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:50 PM
Response to Original message
1. you don't
Edited on Mon Aug-21-06 04:50 PM by datasuspect
it is an illiterate bastardization of youse.
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smtpgirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:54 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. dictionary.com entry
you-all (yôl) also y'all (yôl)
pron. Chiefly Southern U.S.

You. Used in addressing two or more people or referring to two or more people, one of whom is addressed.

Regional Note: The single most famous feature of Southern United States dialects is the pronoun y'all, sometimes heard in its variant you-all. You-all functions with perfect grammatical regularity as a second person plural pronoun, taking its own possessive you-all's (or less frequently, your-all's, where both parts of the word are inflected for possession): You-all's voices sound alike. Southerners do not, as is sometimes believed, use you-all or y'all for both singular and plural you. A single person may only be addressed as you-all if the speaker implies in the reference other persons not present: Did you-all have dinner yet? You and you-all preserve the singular/plural distinction that English used to have in thou and ye, the subject forms of singular and plural you, respectively (thee and you were the singular and plural object forms). The distinction between singular thou/thee and plural ye/you began to blur as early as the 13th century, when the plural form was often used for the singular in formal contexts or to indicate politeness, much as the French use tu for singular and familiar “you,” and vous for both plural and polite singular “you.” In English, the object form you gradually came to be used in subject position as well, so that the four forms thou, thee, ye, and you collapsed into one form, you. Thou and thee were quite rare in educated speech in the 16th century, and they disappeared completely from standard English in the 18th. However, the distinction between singular and plural you is just as useful as that between other singular and plural pronoun forms, such as I and we. In addition to y'all, other forms for plural you include you-uns, youse, and you guys or youse guys. Youse is common in vernacular varieties in the Northeast, particularly in large cities such as New York and Boston, and is also common in Irish English. You-uns is found in western Pennsylvania and in the Appalachians and probably reflects the Scotch-Irish roots of many European settlers to these regions. You guys and youse guys appear to be newer innovations than the other dialectal forms of plural you. See note at you-uns.
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datasuspect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:57 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. thanks for ctrl c and ctrl v effort
but i was just being a wiseass.
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Bucky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:25 PM
Response to Reply #7
19. Don't know about your wiseassin, but your sarcasteratin' is in fine form.
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datasuspect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:28 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. mister, i got me a whole patch of sarcastertaters
out there in the back 40.
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ghostsofgiants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:06 PM
Response to Reply #1
11. Youse > Y'all
Ye is pretty popular around here, though youse makes the occasional appearance in some areas.
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SeattleGirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:51 PM
Response to Original message
2. Y'all, of course.
And if I'm addressing more than one person, it's "all y'all". :P
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Gormy Cuss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:52 PM
Response to Original message
3. Yaal is a Southern Devil,
Edited on Mon Aug-21-06 04:55 PM by Gormy Cuss
first cousin of Baal.}( :evilfrown: :evilgrin:
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Bucky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:53 PM
Response to Original message
4. The first (y'all) is traditional, but I've started dropping the apostrophe
Edited on Mon Aug-21-06 04:55 PM by Bucky
It serves no purpose, therefor it is gone.

If you've ever heard LBJ pronounce it, you know it could be spelled "yawl". But if you haven't heard LBJ pronounce it, then it's too late.

The proper etymology is "you all", not "ya all" as the erroneous, yet common "ya'll" spelling implies.
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QuestionAll... Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #4
9. y'all is two close knit syllables, yall is one solid.
yall sounds like something a boat or ship does or has...
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Bucky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:17 PM
Response to Reply #9
14. Well, that's just the thing. No one I know says "y'all" w/ a glottal stop
It's just one syllable, the way most folks say it. If it was done with a glottal stop (like a quick "yuh-all") then it'd make sense to spell it ya'll. Far as I can tell, the vowell sound in the second person plural pronoun comes exclusively from the word "all" and the consonant "Y" is the same sound that you make in phrases like "How y'doin'?" or "I'm, like, from the Valley, y'know? Like, ohmygawd!"
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QuestionAll... Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:32 PM
Response to Reply #14
24. oiy, don't get grammar teachy on me. ;)

second person plural pronoun, wot wot. heh.
altho i'm confessing I know little of this word and have actually heard it spoken less (cept movies)

you all
y'all
two distinct but fine line syllables.

as compared to yall. one syllable.

nuance.
but anyways, it's my favourite word of the day.
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supernova Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 04:55 PM
Response to Original message
6. Y'all. Properly the contraction for "you all"
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Haole Girl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:00 PM
Response to Original message
8. Kinky Friedman quote:
Remember: Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural. All y'all's is plural possessive.
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Bucky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:22 PM
Response to Reply #8
16. Another example of how Friedman is a fake cowboy.
"All y'all" is used to initiate a group action (as in "All y'all get over here"). But only weak, uninformed parodies of Southerners ever use "y'all" as a singular pronoun. Friedman is a fraud--a marketing whiz, mind you--but a fraud.
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Haole Girl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 07:48 PM
Response to Reply #16
29. Thanks for the info
I wasn't aware. Really. I have only lived in Texas since 1989. And, this is not sarcasm. Truly, I thought Kinky Friedman would know!
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texanwitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:01 PM
Response to Original message
10. Doesn't matter, I just like the word.
:kick:
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BrotherBuzz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:06 PM
Response to Original message
12. Yawl. A Yawl is a two masted boat
Edited on Mon Aug-21-06 05:07 PM by BrotherBuzz
with the aft mast stepped behind the rudder. :shrug:
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HarukaTheTrophyWife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:08 PM
Response to Original message
13. I don't say it or spell it. Being from NJ, my version is "yo, you guys"
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Bucky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:23 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. Heh. My Philadelphia cousins used to say "youse guyse". Then they moved...
to Tennessee. Now they almost talk like regular people.
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HarukaTheTrophyWife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:25 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. Nope, the NYC/north Jersey dialect is the normal way to talk.
I find southerns weird sounding.
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NewWaveChick1981 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:20 PM
Response to Original message
15. It's "y'all".
All the best Southerners know that. :P Contraction of "you all".
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In_The_Wind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:27 PM
Response to Original message
20. Y'all
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NewWaveChick1981 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:28 PM
Response to Reply #20
22. Hi, Joani!
:hi: Glad to see you spell y'all the right way! :P Georgia girls know how to spell it! :D
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In_The_Wind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:31 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. Hi Darlin', NewWaveChick! How y'all doin'?
Of course a Southern Woman should know the correct place to add an " ' ".
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NewWaveChick1981 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:32 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. Yes, we do!
I'm doing great! How are y'all? :*
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Nicole Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:52 PM
Response to Original message
26. Y'all of course
The right way. :)

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GOPisEvil Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 05:54 PM
Response to Original message
27. The apostrophe takes the place of letters missing...
...hence...y'all. "Ya'll" is just fucking wrong.
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txwhitedove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-21-06 06:19 PM
Response to Original message
28. Grew up spelling it Ya'll. Don't care what a dictionary says,
because it is not a true contraction, but more like
southern speak. Hell, even ain't is in the dictionary now,
and it is not really a word. Ya'll have a nice evening!
:hi:
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