Y'all doesn't seem far fetched to me. Incorrect, or local, yes. Probably is a contraction of "you all".... which somehow was derived from "all of you"?
I'm not a teacher, or a writer. In fact, I was horrible in English and Spelling classes in school. But I fall under the "I'll know if it's not right when I see it" category.
The only place I make a decided effort to be obnoxious about correcting a writers grammar is on Cultofmac.com and 9to5mac.com. I do so because both sites feature the most ignorant jackasses on the entire web—and appear to be having a competition to see which site can make the most blatantly obvious typos, grammar, and factual errors in their articles.
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#589302 - 01/29/1312:40 PMRe: Perfessers, writin', conjunctions and stuff. that
[Re: steveg]
lanovami This space for rent
Registered: 05/02/05
Posts: 7391
Loc: 東京都
The midwest certainly has it's own plural 2nd person: you guys, with the possessive being you guyses'. I hear it in my office among other American teachers. Drive me batty, but I kind of like to hear how people find a way around the limitations of English (such as not having a plural 2nd person).
_________________________ We are what we repeatedly do - Aristotle
#589303 - 01/29/1312:56 PMRe: Perfessers, writin', conjunctions and stuff. that
[Re: lanovami]
steveg
Making a new reply.
Registered: 04/19/02
Posts: 27495
Loc: D'OHio
I miss the good ol' Boston townie-speak, But Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC sometimes lapses into it for effect. Like using wicked as a synonym for extremely. Although he's never used the full phrase for extremely great, which is wicked pissah!
#589304 - 01/29/1301:14 PMRe: Perfessers, writin', conjunctions and stuff. that
[Re: lanovami]
six_of_one
Pool Bar
Registered: 04/19/02
Posts: 4445
Loc: Alexandria, VA
Quote:
The midwest certainly has it's own plural 2nd person: you guys, with the possessive being you guyses'. I hear it in my office among other American teachers.
And there's the southern "Y'all," which interestingly is often used for the 2nd person singular as well as plural. Possessive would be "Y'all's" ...
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