antedating of "y'all"

Wed Mar 6 21:19:59 UTC 2013

JL wrote:
> OED: 1877  ("you all": 1824)
>
> 1874 "Moses Adams" [George William Bagby] _What I Did with My Fifty
> Millions _ (Phila.: Lippincott) 118: "Did y'all know Woody Latham?" said I.
>
> (The ADS Archives seem not to be working for me. Sorry of this turns out to
> be gratuitous.)

That is an excellent antedating. The industrious and hyper-skilled
Barry Popik also examined this question and discovered some even
earlier impressive evidence. Here is a link for y'all

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/yall/

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