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

[Neal Whitman]

I've definitely heard "your guys's" in the wild, and have noted its doubly marked possessive at the time.

Neal

On Jan 23, 2013, at 11:12 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

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