[Ads-l] us-uns, they-uns

Tue Apr 7 20:49:07 UTC 2026

Thanks for sharing an entertaining remark, LH. Here is an instance in
1950. The spelling and attributions evolved during subsequent decades.
Coach Frank Howard of Clemson attributed the remark to an unnamed
farmer.

[ref] 1950 September 28, Carthage Evening Press, Clemson Coach Well
Known for Wit Down South, Quote Page 5A, Column 2, Carthage, Missouri.
(Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt – please double-check for typos]
Missouri's Don Faurot and Howard had their hilarious innings when both
were opposing coaches at Jacksonville's Gator Bowl game in 1949. At
one banquet, for instance, Howard said he learned about Faurot's
coaching ability from a Carolina farmer.

"That there Fa-rott", Howard quoted the farmer as saying, "is a mighty
fine football coach. He's so good that he can take his'n and beat
your'n, or he can take your'n and beat his'n!"
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Mon, Apr 6, 2026 at 8:52 PM Laurence Horn
<00001c05436ff7cf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> I'm reminded of a compliment from the legendary football coach Bum Phillips
> (about the even more legendary Bear Bryant?): "He can take his-uns and beat
> your-uns, and then he can take your-uns and beat his-uns."  (Sometimes
> quoted in the singular collective "his'n...your'n", although presumably Bum
> would have wanted to avoid the potential homophony.)
>
> LH
>
> On Mon, Apr 6, 2026 at 2:49 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > "Them-uns" ain't in that big book o' yourn either !  What's wrong with them
> > people ?
> >
> > DARE has "them-uns" (subj. & obj.) from 1865-1969, with both cases in the
> > same source.
> >
> > It has "they-uns," likewise, from 1864-2005, but "yinz" (in IPA) only from
> > 1981, and that from the "Inland Gulf Region."
> >
> > DARE has an 1862 subj. "us-uns," again from David Ross Locke as above.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 6, 2026 at 2:04 PM Laurence Horn <
> > 00001c05436ff7cf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > I’m away from the internet but I’d have thought “them-uns” ( even as
> > > subject) would be more likely than “they-uns”.
> > >
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > >
> > > > On Apr 6, 2026, at 11:56 AM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > > 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Ignoring the several obvious typos above...I'm wondering if "yinz,"
> > the
> > > > Western Pa. version  of "you-uns," originated long ago in "ye-uns,"
> > > unknown
> > > > to OED.
> > > > (Their 1810 ex. of "you uns," from Pa., is spelled "youns," which IMO
> > > could
> > > > represent either "you-uns" or "ye-uns.")
> > > >
> > > > 1879 _ Inter-Ocean_   (Chicago, Ill.) (Sept. 20) 12 [GenealogyBank]:
> > > > What's ye'uns names?    [Fiction set out west; notice it's possessive.]
> > > >
> > > > 1892 _Racine Daily Times_ (July 6) 5 [Ibid.]: Who be ye'uns?  [Civil
> > War
> > > > fiction: speaker is from NC.]
> > > >
> > > > 1893 _Evansville [Ind.] Journal_ (Nov. 23) 3 [Ibid.]: Ye uns air all
> > > solid
> > > > fur the ticket.
> > > >
> > > > 1901 _Anderson [S.C.] Intelligencer_  (March 13) 8 [Ibid]: Ye uns can't
> > > say
> > > > that.
> > > >
> > > > 1901 _Times-Picayune_ (N.O.) (Aug. 18) 27 [Ibid.]: The varmints 'ud be
> > > plum
> > > > 'shamed ter claim kin ter ye uns.   [Fiction set in Tenn.]
> > > >
> > > > Etc., etc.
> > > >
> > > > The earliest "yinz" I've seen, so spelled,  is from Pittsburgh as
> > > recently
> > > > as 1968, when it was noted as "singular and plural."
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > >> On Mon, Apr 6, 2026 at 10:11 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > >> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> Neither is in OED. I confess "they-uns" sounds unfamiliar. OED
> > actually
> > > >> has a 1954 ex. hidden in a citation for "slow," n., but nothing else.
> > > (OED
> > > >> does included "we-uns.")
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> 1864 _New-London Chronicle_ (Apr. 14) 1 [Genealogy Bank]:  Genuine
> > > Alabama
> > > >> poetry...It's hard for yoe 'uns [sic] and we uns to part/ For us 'uns
> > > all
> > > >> know you have got we uns heart.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1864 [David Ross Locke] _The Nasby Papers_ (Indianapolis: C. O.
> > Perrine)
> > > >> 38: Nacher intended  em to rool and us uns to serve.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1865 [David Ross Locke, in] _New-Orleans Times_ (July 3) 12
> > > >> [GenealogyBank]:  A proud, high-sperited people like us uns.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1865 _Hancock Jeffersonian_ (Findlay, O.) (Oct. 13) 3 [GenealogyBank]
> > > >> [cartoon captions]: Us uns receiving the returns. They uns ditto.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1866 _N.Y. Tribune_ (Nov. 3) 4 [Ibid.]: I had to do it, else they uns
> > > >> would have killed we uns.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1867 _Daily Missouri Democrat_ (Dec. 4) 3 [Ibid.]: New Grammar...We
> > uns
> > > >> done it. You uns done it. They uns done it.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1868 _Bossier Banner_ (Benton, La.) (Jan. 25) 3 [Ibid.]: "They uns"
> > have
> > > >> served "we uns" likewise.
> > > >>
> > > >> 1868 _Springfield [Mass.] Republican_ (Mar. 13) 2 [Ibid.] : Grinning
> > at
> > > >> the mad pranks "they-uns" play [in Alabama].
> > > >>
> > > >> 2003 _Winston-Salem Journal_ (Apr. 26) 11: 'They-uns' have memories
> > from
> > > >> childhood.
> > > >>
> > > >> The geographical spread in the 1860s is remarkable.  One reason for
> > the
> > > >> evidently very late appearance of these terms in print must surely be
> > > that
> > > >> writing was scarce about life in the Southern Appalachians befor the
> > > Civil
> > > >> War (and even later than that).
> > > >>
> > > >> "Uns" forms seem to have made quite an impression Yankees when they
> > > >> encountered them. (Except possibly those from W. Pa., where "youns" is
> > > >> documented as aerly as 1810).
> > > >>
> > > >> JL
> > > >> --
> > > >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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