# How do y'all use y'all

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-use-yall/285160>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 17, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-use-yall/285160 "2005-01-17T05:18:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-use-yall/285160/61 "2005-01-19T11:28:14Z")

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> [@spoke-](#):
>
> It’s still plural in both usages. “Y’all been drinkin’” implies that not just the addressee, but others in his group have been drinking.
> 
> "_All y’all_ been drinkin’ " would be used to indicate that _every member_ of the addressee’s group has been drinking.
> 
> If it were only the addressee who’d been drinking, the statement would be “You(‘ve) been drinkin’.”

Or, “Dammit, y’all drank all my beer!”

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**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-use-yall/285160/62 "2005-01-19T15:41:51Z")

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Quote:  
Originally Posted by tremorviolet  
I’m from Gainesville, FL which is in North Florida and Southern as opposed to South Florida which is Northern.

> [@kniz](#):
>
> 😕

If I may chime in on tremorviolet’s behalf:

South Florida has been taken over by carpetbaggers and other nefarious types, while North Florida is still inhabited by gen-u-wine Southernors. 😉

Oh, and to answer the question:

1. Y’all is a wonderful word, I use it frequently, and it is always plural
2. Alabama

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**Author:** ![Emony\_Dax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Emony\_Dax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emony_Dax)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-use-yall/285160/63 "2005-01-19T15:52:02Z")

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1. Y’all is plural. Using “y’all” to refer to a single person is Just. Wrong. and will peg you as a yankee quicker than anything 😃

2. Yep, life-long Texan here.

> [@](#):
>
> There’s no need to say “all y’all;” that would be redundant.

I have to admit I sometimes use “all o’ y’all” if I’m talking to family or friends and I don’t care how red-neck I sound. I NEVER use y’all when giving presentations or speaking with students/parents or any other situation in which I need to be perceived as professional. It’s funny how I have my “natural” accent, then a “work” accent, which sounds disturbingly like the neutral Midwestern thing you hear on national news broadcasts.

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**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-use-yall/285160/64 "2005-01-19T16:21:07Z")

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Y’all is 2d person plural. I use it regularly. I’m a Yankee, but I lived for a few years in Memphis and realized how useful a word it is. (I also occasionally say “might could.”)

“All y’all” can be used for emphasis or completeness. It also can refer to the audience’s kin. For instance, if I tell Bob and Jim “All y’all need to go to that show,” it means not only Bob and Jim, but also that their people need to go.

–Cliffy

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