What is your plural for "you"?

[Deil the Yin]

It's "yall"... duh. But we only use a 'postrophe when we wants to be fancy. :P

[Deil the Yin]

I"d say the Y'ALLs have it, eh wot?

[OC Richard]

Wow thanks for all the replies!

The poll and thread were intended to gather information and shed light on the various Englishes we speak.

Just yesterday I chatted with a charming young couple from Australia, and after speaking of the weather and Aussie Rules and what not, I posed this very question to them, and they both responded that it would be "youze" or "youze guys" in any other but a formal setting. (They were from different parts of Australia BTW.)

Sorry about the inadequate number of choices: I was limited to ten. But I have taken note of "yooze wans" and "yez" and others.

To my somewhat proper Canadian coworker, who said it would be "you, of course" I posed this: What if three people were waiting in a room, and you had to go in and ask the lot to go with you? She said that she would say "All of you come with me" to which I responded that "y'all come with me" is far more concise. The fact that she had to resort to a ponderous circumlocution testifies to the need of a plural "you", which we English-speakers the world over have filled in various ways.

BTW note that "y'all" is putting an old-fashioned whomping on "you" and all the rest.

[Joshua]

My Kentucky grandmother referred to "you" plural as "you-ferrs"

As in "You-ferrs git inna house!"

Turns out later, we discovered that "ferrs" was a truncated, Kentucky Fried "Fellows".

Oddly enough, "You Fellows" is more formal and like much Rural American vernacular, practically Elizabethan in it's roots.

(Other words that show this link, the word "Poke" for a disposable paper bag, Cove, Hollow (as in a location, pronounced "Holler"), yonder and yon, etc...)

[Lyle1]

To my somewhat proper Canadian coworker, who said it would be "you, of course" I posed this: What if three people were waiting in a room, and you had to go in and ask the lot to go with you? She said that she would say "All of you come with me" to which I responded that "y'all come with me" is far more concise. The fact that she had to resort to a ponderous circumlocution testifies to the need of a plural "you", which we English-speakers the world over have filled in various ways.

With spoken language, meaning is not limited to word choice. Inflection, tone of voice, body language, and certainly the context of the conversation, the situation, and/or locale all convey meaning. The statement, "would you please come with me?," said while the speaker made an encompassing sweeping gesture with his or her hand (often left to right at chest height for the speaker) would normally be interpreted as being addressed to all members of the group or at least those people included in the hand motion. The use of "you" as a plural would be understood without the use of extra verbiage. Even in written language, the context would usually give adequate clues to distinguish between singular and plural usage of the pronoun "you."

[Pleater]

I just remembered where 'Ye' is still used - occasionally - we have 'officials' who go out and about at markets and festivities, with bells, and they give them a good donging and then cry 'Hear ye hear ye' and proceed to read out some document or other with lots of whereins and howsoevers, in a loud voice, having just deafened all those within a 10 yard radius.

The position of town crier has been resurrected by places wishing to appear 'quaint' and has gone some way to keeping the threatrical costume makers in work.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Jack Daw]

Well, the use of ya'll or youse or you guys seems to me to be nothing compared to the loose use of prepositions. Do you fill in an application form in or fill out one? It seems that you can do both with the same results and understanding, but...

[OC Richard]

Do you fill in an application form in or fill out one?

Or beat down an opponent, or beat up an opponent?

As an American who watches English Premier League matches on a regular basis I am often struck by the differences in language, including prepositions.

The English presenters (announcers) will say that a match will be televised "from 4" while we would say it will be televised "at 4".

There are hundreds of such things such as "drink driving" v "drunk driving", "drugs testing" v "drug testing", etc.

One of the oddest things is how the word "tie" means entirely different things in the sports-talk of England and the USA. An American might be puzzled when Preston and Scunthorpe are said to be meeting in an upcoming tie... who could know the score, the American would say, when the match has yet to be played?

US tie = English draw ("The Second City Derby ended in a nil-nil draw.")

The English meaning of "tie" has no direct US equivalent: a tie is a one-off scheduled match for the FA Cup or other competition, hence the phrase "cup tie".

BTW "ye" is the nominative plural, "you" is the objective plural; "thou" and "thee" are the respective singulars. Odd that "you" took over except in regional dialects.

[thescot]

Or beat down an opponent, or beat up an opponent?

As an American who watches English Premier League matches on a regular basis I am often struck by the differences in language, including prepositions.

The English presenters (announcers) will say that a match will be televised "from 4" while we would say it will be televised "at 4".

There are hundreds of such things such as "drink driving" v "drunk driving", "drugs testing" v "drug testing", etc.

One of the oddest things is how the word "tie" means entirely different things in the sports-talk of England and the USA. An American might be puzzled when Preston and Scunthorpe are said to be meeting in an upcoming tie... who could know the score, the American would say, when the match has yet to be played?

US tie = English draw ("The Second City Derby ended in a nil-nil draw.")

The English meaning of "tie" has no direct US equivalent: a tie is a one-off scheduled match for the FA Cup or other competition, hence the phrase "cup tie".

BTW "ye" is the nominative plural, "you" is the objective plural; "thou" and "thee" are the respective singulars. Odd that "you" took over except in regional dialects.

Excellent discussion, OC. When I was in England (yes, England in the Lake Districct) with a professor in gradaute school, I noted the difference in British English usage and American English usage. Quite a few words have different meanings altogether (elevator, suspenders) or subtle differences which will confuse clarity (redundant, college).

We truly are separated by a common language. I have a friend whose uncle went to Ireland to visit a long-lost cousin, and all was well until he said something about swatting his wife on the "fanny." All hell broke loose as the lady of the house told him in no uncertain terms to keep his f***ing filthy mouth out of her house!

Which leads to my understanding that, as language is a highly symbolic means of audible communication with an infinite number of options for inflection, subtlety, and idiomatic usage. Like Humpty Dumpty, words mean exactly what you want them to mean.

" 'Some people,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as usual, 'have no more sense than a baby!' " Like anyone who disagrees with me. ith:

As the story of my friend's uncle in Ireland demonstrates, words in and of themselves have no intrinsic meaning; there really are no bad words. Thre are only bad intentions and evil thoughts. There is linguistic ettiquette. There is tradition and practice and local usage that is understood locally. There is even technical usage, such as that of the law, so that everyone involved can agree on the exact meaning, but there is no absolute right or wrong.

Unless you lie with the intent of harming.

Oh the other hand, I'm pretty sure God speaks with a Southern accent and wears a Gunnery Sergeant's uniform.

[Jock Scot]

NOTE:With my tongue placed firmly in my cheek!

Well there you go. Off our ancestors went, all those years ago, swanning around all over the place, seeking hither and thither and eventually they inhabit a new land called America---well OK it has other names for a while-------all fine and dandy with a workable language, ENGLISH (my apologies to the, German, French,Polish,Dutch, Russian languages) and then the home country gets you all set up in the new country and then cuts the ties to let you get on with life and what do YOU do? YOU mess around with a perfectly serviceable language that all understood and what do we have now? Misunderstandings, with the same language!

Jock now dives swiftly for cover.