x and them

[Peter A. McGraw]

Let's take this thread in a different direction.

A similar expression to "X and them" is "Xs" or "X's" (I'm not sure which
it is).  Thus a great aunt of mine in Iowa (who had lived on a farm all her
life) referred to her son and his family as "Dales" (or "Dale's"?).  I've
never heard it anywhere else, but when I mentioned it as a curiosity to a
female colleague in Dayton, Ohio, who was something of a feminist, she
said, "Oh, yes--I just hate that!" indicating at least that it probably
wasn't restricted to Iowa.  (This colleague had grown up in Albuquerque,
NM, but lived most of her adult life in urban Ohio.)

Does anybody know more about the geography of this, or whether the /-s/ is
plural or possessive?

Peter Mc.

****************************************************************************
                               Peter A. McGraw
                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu