How prevalent is “y’all” as a usage in these two communities, is there any perception of formality/informality or education level attached to it, does anyone actually use that ill informed abomination that is the “y’all singular?” (“Kin I get something else for y’all?” “Uh, it’s just me sitting here lady, I don’t have a mouse in my pocket.”) Is the black “y’all” considered part of Ebonics (or whatever they’re calling it these days)?
As a Texan, personally I feel it’s informal at best, and though I frequently use it in speech, I think writing it out is a tad too cutesy. I tend not to use it when speaking to people not accustomed to that usage, as “you guys” or simply “you” in context is perfectly servicable. NEVER “y’all” to mean anything but “you several people” or “you and yours.”
I say “you all” and “y’all” interchangeably. It depends on the context and the sentence structure. I wouldn’t ever say "“Kin I get something else for y’all?” That just sounds like affected hick. “Let me tell y’all what we’re going to do” is natural. Of course I don’t holler Y’ALL; it’s a natural word in the sentence.
It’s like the word “for,” which I frequently pronounce “fer.” I would never say “what’s that fer?” Again, total hick usage. “I’m going to the store fer some bread,” though is something I’d be apt to say. It’s more like “…f’some bread.” I live in Kentucky, by the way, in an actual city. Not everyone here is a Hatfield or a McCoy.
All this is to say I don’t notice black people using y’all any differently than I do.
A significant portion of what is attributed to black culture is southern culture. This is particularly true of food and largely true of speech patterns and, up until the middle of the 20th century or so, of music as well.
I have spent a lot of time among African American college students, faculty and staff. Not exactly a representative sample, but it’s what I know.
The traditional Southern speaking mannerisms are quite uncommon among urban and suburban people of any type. Since most of the above that I interacted with came from urban and sometimes suburban backgrounds, their speech was usually generic (non-regional) urban-black and suburban-white (!) speech. It was interesting to listen to the suburban raised kids switch: around just me, sounded just like my kids. Around other African-Americans, full on urban slang and tone.
There were a few from more rural or other non-standard backgrounds but not even the former was the full Andy Griffith Show talk.
But people from Baltimore always stuck out. White or black.
I’m not sure I’m parsing the OP right, but the “y’all singular” people I run into are white. And a lot of them. Many of them just use it as a filler word like “like” and “um”.
Well, there is (nominally) a singular of “y’all” and (nominally) a plural of “all y’all”. But I have heard the singular form used in a plural context but not the other way around.
I’ll use it in posts on teh Interwebz and informal e-mails. I won’t use it in business emails or other forms of written communication.
All y’all pay attention to that. It’s good stuff to know.
This. And it’s still always plural, despite other postings to the contrary. “All y’all” is something you might address to a crowd of people. A person might be addressed as “y’all,” but it’s with the implication of “you and your [family/friends/etc.].”
I grew up in rural Georgia. VERY rural. I now live in Atlanta. I have never heard anyone -white or black- use “y’all” as anything but a plural, except on tv.
That’s because it is not a singular form, it is a plural form.
“All y’all” is an intensified version. The closest short explanation I’ve come up with is that it functionally means “each and every one of you in this group”.
“Y’all get that taken care of today” would mean “You guys make sure <whatever> is done, work out the details amongst yourselves”.
“I need all y’all to turn in this item today” would mean “Each and every one of you complete <whatever> and get it to me by 5”.
I’ve used “y’all” my entire life and never heard it used by a native speaker in the singular. The closest you might come is the occasional cliche phrase (e.g., “Y’all come back now, hear?”).
In fact, it’s very confusing when you see/hear it used incorrectly by people who don’t know any better. I’ve spent several minutes re-watching or re-reading sections, trying to figure out who the hell else the character was talking to, before finally realizing “oh, it’s just some idiot again, who didn’t learn the dialect they decided to write in”.
I use it in speech all the time, although I wouldn’t in a very formal setting.
I use it in casual emails, including work emails to people I know. Again, I wouldn’t use it in formal writing or in a formal setting.
I’d say that’s pretty standard (daily use for informal/familiar settings, not appropriate in formal use) for everyone I know.
No difference in how black people and white people say “y’all” from southern Arkansas. redtail23 describes “all y’all” correctly. To me it also means a little more emotion and firmness, just like “each and every one of you” would.
Everybody can say “y’all” to everybody, from schoolchildren to the President, but writing is a lot more restricted. I’ve never used or read “y’all” in an essay, newspaper article, or book, unless it was a quotation or written in dialect. I used it plenty in Internet chat. Rarely in e-mail just because I tend to think of e-mail as formal by default.
I am Southern by upbringing and I agree with redtail23. There is no singular version of ‘Y’all’ even though I have heard many people claim that there is. I think that the misunderstanding is caused by the lack of understanding about who exactly is being referred to.
If someone uses Y’all and directs it to just one person, that still doesn’t mean it is singular. The speaker is referring to an implied group that you are a part of and that group can vary based on context.
For instance, you could run into a neighbor at the grocery store and she may say to you ‘Y’all be sure to drop by and see me sometime’. That isn’t singular. Y’all in this case is referring to all the members of your household or maybe even your whole extended family if she is friendly with all of them. In this case, Y’all has properties like the term ‘You and yours’ in a greeting card.
Oh, that’s a good point, Shagnasty. It’s always used in context here, so I hadn’t noticed it.
But, I don’t really think that’s what has caused the confusion.
I think it stems from (1) an unfamiliar intensifier, and (2) perception of Southerners as stupid.
Who but those slack-jawed yokels down there would do something so stupid as to use an obvious plural as a singular and then have to make up a new phrase for the plural?
Please note that the first several dozen times I ran across this concept (of “y’all” as singular), it was in one of those joke lists of “Southern phrasing” (way, way back before the Internets).
I mean, really. Have you ever once heard of anyone that thought that “you guys”, “youse”, “yinz”, “you’uns”, “yunz”, or any of the other umpteen variations on this concept, was singular?
Even when used similarly to your example, they still don’t get this crap.
Or in this thing called “real life”. Just like the OP, I am constantly being asked by clerks and such “Did y’all find everything you need.” etc. when it’s just me standing there.
The extent to which some people are in denial in how common the singular “y’all” is used is astonishing. People use it. A lot. Deal with it.
I have never heard it myself. I certainly never used it in the singular either and have never known anyone that does. Was there a line by chance? Maybe the cashier thought you were with other people. Y’all is always plural even if the group is implied or simply mistaken. Southerners know the singular form of Y’all and use it as well. It is simply ‘you’.
Or more correctly where I’m from “I’m fixin’ to go to the store fer some bread”. We southerners are always “fixin’ to”.
Yes, if by “fun” you mean “grating on my last nerve to the extent that I want to subject the writer(s) and boss(es) to an eternity of listening to fingernails slowly screeching across a blackboard”. Absolutely.
Y’all is a Southern expression that tries to make up for one of the flaws in the standard English language.
The word ‘You’ can refer to an individual, a group, or a everyone in aggregate.
In standard English we have:
You = one person
You = the group you are a part of
You = everyone regardless of their group affiliation.
Y’all isn’t an ignorant expression or a grammatical error. It is a real word with set grammatical rules even if people that aren’t accustomed to it don’t understand them. Blacks and whites use it the same way and almost always correctly as long as they were raised in those dialects.
This construct tries to give more clarification than standard English allows in short form:
You = one person
Y’all = the group you are a part of
All Y’all = everyone regardless of their group affiliation (in other words, a set of groups).
I stand by my statement that Y’all is never singular in Southern English although I can see how mistakes of assumptions by the speaker would lead someone to think it is sometimes.
