Phil, Moutbreather-can I just say that yinz kick serious ass?
I never say, “y’all.” I say, yinz.
Modian, what source were you quoting there? You didn’t name it.
Wildest Bill, it’s spelled “y’all.” Any other spelling is wrong. I know you said “ya’ll” makes 50% of the people happy, but c’mon now: you don’t want to make me unhappy, do you?
I’ve always felt the distinction between y’all and all y’all has not received the scholarly attention it deserves.
Five, why is that spelling correct and ya’ll incorrect? It’s not like the spelling of ain’t is regular, apostrophically speaking. Ya’ll looks better than y’all.
Amn’t I right?
-fh
Okay, I stand corrected, it’s second person plural. 
y’all seems spelled correctly. ya’ll seems like it would not only be an improper contraction (since the apostrophe doesn’t replace the missing letter(s)) but it would actually be pronounced differently. Not “yawl” but “ya-awl”.
Anyway, being a yank I’ve never liked it. Any time I hear it used I invariably interrupt the conversation and ask, “If you all is y’all, is we all w’all?[pronounced, of course, as “wall”]”
Never fails to receive dumb looks.
mouthbreather, yeah, I spent the bulk of my life in the Greater Cleveland area, so I ran into more than my fair share of Pixburgers. I’ll take you up on that offer, but can I get a Genny Cream Ale instead of an Arn City? 
[rant]
It’s a contraction, fer chrissakes! Don’t y’all remember contractions from elementary school english? You put the apostrophe where the missing letters are. Sheesh. And it’s not a contraction of “ya all” (who would say that?), it’s a contraction of “you all”. “Ain’t” works the same because it’s a colloquial contraction of “am not”; besides, “ain’t” ain’t a word!
[/rant]
Phew, I feel better now.
Sorry, got it from http://www.dictionary.com. Entered “ya’ll”
Yeah, I bet it gets dumb looks.
Here in the mountains of Virginia (at least my section) we say, “we’uns” pronounced ‘wee-yuns’. Works for me.
FTR I spell it “y’all” but there is certainly a strong minority who spells it the other way.
Genny Cream Ale … yummm!!
Can anyone send me some Genny Winter Brew? For some reason we didn’t get it down here this year. :(:(