A new one on me y'all guys

Alice Faber faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU
Wed Oct 3 15:04:43 UTC 2012


On 10/3/12 11:00 AM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
> On Oct 3, 2012, at 6:44 AM, Jon Lighter wrote:
>
>> Never have I heard "y'all guys."
>
> following up on Alice Faber's:
>
>>  From a caller to the XM baseball channel this morning.
>>
>> Pronouns accurate, the rest approximate: "They haven't been listening to
>> y'all's show; y'all guys have been saying...."
>
> (with Alice saying it was new for her).

I was so startled by it, it didn't even occur to me to google.
>
> i'm familiar with it in both speech and writing, and there are lots of ghits for it. a typical example:
>
>    Hey y'all guys, i need your 100% honest opinion. I've been considering the Naval Academy for over 2 years now, and I really am lookin into it.
>    http://www.formspring.me/glitterwars/q/362295958656018568
>
> it would in fact be astonishing if the variant didn't occur with some frequency, given the frequency of vernacular 2pl "you guys" (especially in vocatives) and the use of y'all for 2pl in the South etc.
>

It "felt" like a token-for-token replacement for "youse" in "youse
guys", but that's my NY area bias talking (misleading me?)

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