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

[Laurence Horn]

On Jan 23, 2013, at 12:13 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:

> See Arnold Z. on the You Guys Problem:
>
> http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003800.html
>
If only for the felicitous label: "overpossessive(s)".

LH

> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 11:12 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>> 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 wrote:
>>>
>>> Sounds a little odd but not impossible.
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Herb Stahlke wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> 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."
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 4:09 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> 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?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org