When I Say Y'All, What I Really Mean Is You All

When I say “y’all”, what I mean is “you all” I don’t know why that is so hard to learn When I hear someone snicker at the word I bite my tongue while I do a slow burn Some say it’s not a word, just Southern slang It’s in the dictionary? take a peak There’s no need to make an issue of it Don’t we all use contractions when we speak? It’s never used in a singular sense Unless you just don’t know the word at all Y’all is considered a plural pronoun Some use it possessively, then its y’alls Called it bad English, outside my home state Yet where I grew up, it’s just common speech English teachers and College professors Would use the word y’all, even when they teach As time marches on, use of y’all will spread No second person plural without it I don’t think “youse guys" will come into vogue The contraction, y’all, will become a hit
Copyright © | Year Posted 2012

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Brown Avatar
July 26, 2012 at 5:46 AM
Congratulations on your win in Nancy's contest Charles. Love, Carol
Grisetti Avatar
July 23, 2012 at 3:26 PM
All y'all congratulate Charles for pointing this out. Good job, Charles.
Williams Avatar
July 22, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Charles congrats on your win, well said..David
Dietrich Avatar
July 22, 2012 at 9:37 AM
I love it and I like hearing the southern folk say it! Congrats on the win of your cute poem.
Jones Avatar
July 21, 2012 at 4:25 PM
HAha! This deep south woman spent 12 years living in Buffalo NY where she was the only one who said "y'all" instead of "you guys", "coke" instead of "pop", and "ones" instead of "singles". Love the write, Charles, thanks for supporting my 'test! Namaste~N
Tsiluma Avatar
June 30, 2012 at 3:05 AM
Wow! You must feel strongly about it! And I like how you have explained it logically - including the dictionary and geographical connotations. Nice!
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