# What is this accent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771 "2011-03-23T20:58:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/21 "2011-03-26T18:31:04Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > “All y’all” has a specific and different meaning. It means that one is not only addressing or referring to multiple people, but that what one is saying applies to _each and every individual_ within that group. Right. This term means that one is referring not just to two or more people, but to every member of a group with no exceptions. It may be used (as in **Mississippienne** ’s example) to make sure that people not currently present are included, or to make it clear that what is being said applies to everyone who IS currently present. For example, let’s say Dr. Frank-N-Furter wants everyone else to hurry up and clean the castle before his party. If Riff-Raff and Magenta are working but Columbia is just standing around chewing gum, he might shout “When I said y’all needed to finish cleaning the castle, I meant all y’all!” I have heard that there is a dialect specific to IIRC a small region of Texas where “y’all” can indeed be used to refer to one person, but wherever this is I’ve never been there. In my experience the only people who use “y’all” to mean one person are people doing bad imitations of Southern accents. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/22 "2011-03-26T20:30:03Z")
I’ve heard it said that way (in the singular) here in Mississippi. As mentioned, neither the Southern Accent nor word usage are monolithic. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/23 "2011-03-27T12:17:07Z")
Thanks, **twickster**! I guess I wasn’t listening closely enough, cos I really only noticed the Haa and the y’all. He wasn’t there yesterday, but if I see him next week I’ll pay better attention. I didn’t want to ask him, because I thought he must get asked it all the time, and be sick of the question. So maybe Texas or New Orleans, maybe Mississippi? I’ll see if I can gather some more data. ---
**Author:** ![frawkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@frawkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frawkin)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/24 "2011-03-27T12:53:37Z")
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**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/25 "2011-03-27T13:01:12Z")
The Haaa and Chaaa could be anywhere in the south, I’m guessing maybe West Texas. Oh, and go ahead and ask him; I’d bet he wouldn’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/26 "2011-03-27T13:12:28Z")
If hemhad been from Texas, it’s likely he would have brought it up within four seconds of meeting you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/27 "2011-03-27T16:31:49Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > I guess I wasn’t listening closely enough, cos I really only noticed the Haa and the y’all. He wasn’t there yesterday, but if I see him next week I’ll pay better attention. I didn’t want to ask him, because I thought he must get asked it all the time, and be sick of the question. > > So maybe Texas or New Orleans, maybe Mississippi? I’ll see if I can gather some more data. I don’t think he’d be annoyed if you just asked him where he’s from. You don’t need to make a big deal about his accent, just say something like “Hey, where are you from?” My mother is from Texas (but hasn’t lived in Texas for 30+ years) and has sometimes been annoyed by comments from people about her accent…but only when they’re rude or stupid. There’s a surprising number of people who think it’s appropriate to say things like “You need to do something about that accent” to total strangers. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/28 "2011-03-27T23:14:51Z")
Virginian here. It sounds like it might be an affectation to me - I was always under the impression that y’all always meant the plural (though one can use it with a single person if they represent a larger group, such as addressing a cop if you are referring to the police force in general, such as saying “I see that y’all are wearing gray uniforms now - what’s with the switch?”). ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/29 "2011-03-28T18:58:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Yip. It’s the reason why “all y’all” now exists. > > And watching American TV to get Southern accents is like watching Lost to get Australian ones. The only people I’ve heard do good ones were actually born or raised in the area. Did I miss something? Emilie de Ravin (Claire) was born in Victoria, Australia and lived in the country for about 18 years before moving to the states. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/30 "2011-05-27T13:29:30Z")
He turned out to be from Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771/31 "2011-05-27T14:00:45Z")
thanks for the followup! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-accent/575771.md?page=1)