Posted on 07/07/2003 9:53:07 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
Y'all are being discriminated against. Maybe I should say, "y'all" is.
The discriminators are the editors of some of our nation's dictionaries. They ain't from here.
For instance, Webster's New World College Dictionary, which I use at work, offers such helpful entries as "grossularite," "cootie," "gill fungus" and "a**hole."
But no "y'all," y'all.
Other dictionaries are equally snooty. So I wanted to see if "y'all" made it into the new, 11th edition of the popular Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, rolled out, officially, on Tuesday.
Some 10,000 "new" terms impregnate this lexicological work of art, including "frankenfood": genetically engineered grub; "dead presidents": paper money; "longneck": beer in a long-necked bottle; and "bludge": goof off. The Yiddish exclamation "oy" finally made it.
But what about "y'all"? Ignoring "y'all" is a slap in the face for us all: you, me, and Mama and 'em. Not to mention, three of our last five presidents, who slather their conversations with "y'all," as one lavishes grits with butter.
And rightly so. "Y'all" is pithier than "you guys," and more serviceable. It means "stop picking on me, mean people," as in "Y'awlll!"
In social situations, it can mean "Hey, I think I'm fixin' to throw up," as in "Y'all . . . I'm drunk."
In any case, "y'all" functions as the plural of "you," the only pronoun in the English language that doesn't have one. Except, of course, in Southern English.
Even the Germans almost got it right, with their "ihr" (pronounced, roughly, "ear"). "Y'all" and "ihr" are linguistic soul mates.
But they ruin it by also using "ihr" for "her," "its," "their," "theirs," and, when capitalized, "your" and "yours."
Oy.
One drawl, that's all
"Y'all" usage proves that the Southern tongue is superior. But the word bigots compiling some dictionaries don't think so.
Bad sign: When I typed in "y'all" on Merriam-Webster's 10th Collegiate edition Web page (to get the new, 11th edition online, you have to shell out 15 dead George Washingtons), my computer reacted as if I had poleaxed it with a longneck.
"Waiting for reply" froze to the Mac's screen — the computer's way of saying, "Y'all . . . I'm drunk."
Mac is back
Another bad sign: Merriam-Webster omits these and other colorful Southernisms:
* ay-yunt hee-yull: the proper spelling of "ant hill"
* Co-coler: the universal term for any soft drink
* cooter shell: car trunk
* do what?: "say again?"
* ever who: whoever
* fixin' to: "going to, after I think about it a minute"
* Mama and 'em: the entire family, including Shep the wolfdog
* talk atchoo later: 'bye
* yello: hello
I couldn't get my hands on an 11th edition before press time. But if the 10th edition includes "y'all," the new one should, too. Finally, after a reboot (the cyber equivalent of a pot of coffee), my Mac sobered up.
And I found it, shining forth from the Web page like a tiara on a beauty queen's noggin: "y'all". (Later, a local bookstore confirmed the holy presence of "y'all" in the good, old 11th as well.)
As for the editors of those other dictionaries, a diet of longnecks and frankenfood must have caused their brains to bludge.
Or, y'all . . . they're drunk.
never heard of it (and I'm in SC via GA)
Not only Southerners pluralize "you" and Southerners do it irregularly: no other noun is pluralized by adding "-all" - most nouns, like "yous", are pluralized by adding "-s".
One entry found for y'all.
"Y'all come back now, ya hear?"
FMCDH
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