Timothy McDougald
Posts: 1036 Joined: Dec. 2006
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Quote (Texas Teach @ June 07 2009,13:40) | Quote (Tony M Nyphot @ June 07 2009,13:05) | Quote (Texas Teach @ June 07 2009,11:44) | Quote (afarensis @ June 07 2009,12:26) | * I lived in Knoxville for six years so I am entitled to say y'all. |
I'm all for the spread of the y'all meme to carpetbaggers and yankees, but it drives me crazy when some actor/actress is trying to pull off the accent and can't understand that y'all is plural, not singular. |
Just what is the singular form you would use?
Where does "all y'all" fit into the scheme of things? |
The parts of the south I'm familiar with: Arkansas (where I was raised), Texas, Tennessee (but almost exclusively Memphis), Mississippi, and Alabama use "you" as the singular and "y'all" as the plural. "All y'all" is used infrequently when one needs something expansive and inclusive of a large group (all of you).
Khan, I can't speak for Kentuckians as I've never actually met any to hear them talk. Perhaps they've got a completely different set of rules. |
When I lived in Knoxville, I don't think I ever heard the phrase all y'all used. It was just y'all and used for two or more people. I did hear a possessive form though.
-------------- Church burning ebola boy
FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.
PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.
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