Heard: "I'm on *your* guys's side!" [NT]

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Wed Jan 23 16:12:35 UTC 2013


On the other hands, the form "guys's'" *is* weird - but not uncommon in
"you guys's."

JL

On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 11:04 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Heard: "I'm on *your* guys's side!" [NT]
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sounds a little odd but not impossible.
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Heard: "I'm on *your* guys's side!" [NT]
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Unless "you guys" has grammaticalized as a second plural pronoun, as it
> > seems to have in some Northern dialects.  I know I've used expressions
> like
> > "you guys side" but "your guys side" feels odd, with or without the "'s."
> >
> > Herb
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 4:09 AM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: Heard: "I'm on *your* guys's side!" [NT]
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Thank you. Now I see the issue.
> > >
> > > If my buddy is rooting for team X, then one meaning of "your guys's
> side"
> > > is the side of my buddy's guys. I think that's okay.
> > >
> > > But even so, if I have two friends rooting for team X, and I am, too,
> > then
> > > "I'm on your guys's side" sounds right. I don't think I would even say
> > "you
> > > guys's side" though I agree that it doesn't make sense when analyzed.
> > >
> > > Benjamin Barrett
> > > Seattle, WA
> > >
> > > On Jan 23, 2013, at 12:00 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 2:13 AM, Benjamin Barrett <
> > gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > >> If that's the plural second person possessive, that sounds right to
> > me,
> > > but what do the asterisks mean?...
> > > >
> > > > Stress, like,
> > > >
> > > > "I'm on YOUR guys's side!"
> > > >
> > > > as opposed to those guys's side.
> > > >
> > > > You would say "on your guys's side" and not "on your side" or "on you
> > > > guys' side"? You'd combine the two, using "you guys's"? Interesting.
> > > > You wouldn't write the combo version, though, right?
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list