Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Y is for You All


I grew up in West Virginia where there seemed to be a dividing line between the way people talked. To the north people spoke more with a Midwestern/nothern accent and to the south there was more of a southern accent. I actually saw a map once that showed this dividing line. From my experience, it made a lot of sense.

If you went one county north of me, you would hear a more Midwestern sound. Go one county south of me and you would hear more of a country, southern sound. These variations also happened between towns to the more rural areas. I was a town kid living more to the north, so I didn't have much of an accent. Well, we all have an accent one way or another, but I sounded more like a news anchor than Ellie Mae Clampett. People have often been surprised when I tell them that I'm from WV. They think I should have much more of a southern drawl.

Edgewater Beach Resort. This is where I first learned about my You all.
That was until I spent one summer in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I had just graduated college and before heading off to grad school, I was doing a summer of field work for the USGS (United States Geological Survey) there. After spending the day in swampy muck with almost unbearable numbers of mosquitoes, we spent the evening at the bar in the local fishing "resort" where we were staying. We made fast friends with the owners and several of the locals that hung out there.

One evening, Gary, one of the owner's sons, said that I had a very southern accent. He said, "You talk like this," with very drawn out twangy words. Very southern. He also said that I said, "You all." Well, I guess I did sound kind of southern to someone who lived much further north than I did. But I had never noticed that I said you all. I learned in English class that you could be both singular and plural and that's the way I wrote it. I thought I talked that way also. I knew I didn't say the southern contraction Y'all, but I hadn't realize that I said a form of it.

That summer, I tried to stop saying you all and use you for both singular and plural like I thought I was already doing. And I couldn't do it. If a group of people were standing around and I said, "Do you want to go to the movies?" I would wait for a minute and then had to add all so my meaning was clear, "Do you all want to go to the movies?" Without the all I was afraid that they wouldn't understand that I was inviting all of them. That's when I figured out that in my world you is singular and you all is plural.

And that's how it's been ever since. Just like it was before. You is singular and you all is plural.

What do you say? You, you all, y'all, youins, ...





11 comments:

  1. I am a y'all all the way, unless there is a huge crowd and then it's all y'all!

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    1. Since you're from Alabama, I was gonna guess that you were a Y'all person. Hadn't thought about the all y'all, but I've heard that too.

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  2. It's very "Michigan" to say "you guys". I think that's our version of "you all". It includes different genders and ages. Did you come across that in the UP? The upper peninsula was more populated by those of Swedish and Norwegian background while the LP (lower peninsula) has more of a German/Polish/Dutch/African American influence, and we "trolls" (because we live "under the bridge") definitely have a different accent as compared to the "Yoopers". I do hear occasional southern accents when I am at work--the industry boom earlier in Michigan's history resulted in those from the south seeking jobs.

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    1. I forgot about "guys". When addressing a group, I use "guys" usually without the "you". But sometimes, I do. I'll have to study that to see what the pattern really is. When I was in the UP, I had very little interaction with others except the few same people I saw every night. I don't remember much except the "you all".

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    2. Did you ever take this quiz? http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?r=8222020s040010201012004008400001080l010001020j0008&_r=2&

      It was a lot of fun and pretty darn accurate--it placed me as originating from one of 3 places--Detroit, MI, Grand Rapids, MI, and Toledo OH. I have lived within an hour of all of these cities my whole life.

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    3. I took it a long time ago, but just took it again. My problem is, do I answer the questions like a grew up, or other ways I learned from living other places (sub vs. po boy, etc.). So I'm not sure what the results mean. Mostly, I have the most in common with the south and nothing with the west. However, there are things in common with New England through the south into the middle of the country. It is very interesting. If I hadn't been so tired of this challenge, it would have also been interesting to explore some of the phrases they use in this quiz.

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  3. Being born and raised in Oregon, I have no southern tendencies. But I do say, for clarity in a group, if addressing several, like Michigan Kris, "you guys", to avoid the confusion of "you" being mistaken as singular. "Guys" being assumed to cover both sexes. I'd never thought much about it before, however.

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    1. In my mind, when "guy" is used, it is male. When it is plural, "guys", it is used to include both genders.

      All of this is very interesting. Thanks for adding to the conversation.

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  4. This is interesting. I grew up in south TX and made it a point of sayng 'you guys' instead of 'you all' or' y'all'. I still do that today. Most people asked me if I was from Virginia, Maryland, or Georgia and were shocked to find I was raised in TX. I had a strong southern accent after I moved out of the state when I was twenty-three. Now I guess most of that is gone because I can hear the accent my sisters have when they call me. I never noticed it before.

    Sunni

    http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/

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    1. Even though I don't have a southern accent now, I pick it up very easily if I'm around it. Do you find when you go back to Texas you pick it up quickly again?

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  5. Down here in the deep south, we say ya'll.

    www.justlittlecajunme.blogspot.com

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What do you think?