second-person pronouns redux

[Bonnie Osborn Briggs]

Yes, everyone goes to great lengths to make a case for ya'll being
either plural or singular, depending on their convictions, but the ever
popular them has always fascinated me.  It's sort of like a safety net -
in case Joyce and Francis show up with a third party that you really
weren't expecting.

Bonnie Briggs
The University of Memphis

Peter Richardson wrote:
>
> We could extend this to third-person pronouns as well. I know many people
> around Monkey Run, Arkansas (also known as Pilgrim's Rest--near Cotter and
> Flippin, if you've got your maps out) who will refer to two people,
> usually a married couple, as "X and them": "When are Joyce and them [Joyce
> and her husband Francis] coming over?"
>
> Peter Richardson