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

[Herb Stahlke]

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:

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> 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?
>
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