Question for any SFers in/from New York State: Use of the Contraction "Y'all"

officerripley

officerripley

Well-known Member
Location
Porlock, Calif
Just finished a really good book (Out of the Ashes by Kara Thomas; fiction; free right now for Kindle, btw). The book takes place in New York state, in a fictional town about 3 hours away from New York City. And the author has some of the characters in the book saying "y'all" a couple of times, using it as the contraction for "you all." "Y'all" is used in the American southern states but I didn't realize it was used at all in New York or even in the Northeast U.S. (And the author lives on Long Island in NY so I guess she knows.) I mean, I know that on social media, there's been a movement to try to get people use "y'all" instead of "you guys" since it's considered less sexist or something. I'm just curious; some of the regionalisms in language have always fascinated me.
 

Y'all is definitely what we say in the South. Some even say "y'all all come back" etc., which I would never say!☺️ Different areas of the country do have "regionalisms." A friend who moved near me from a nearby state would say "I don't care to" - when I would have said "I don't mind at all." That was strange to me - but part of life where she grew up.
 
I am from the South and use y'all now and then. I have noticed it is also used by folks from other parts of the country, more commonly but not exclusively southern.

Don't know if that is new or not.

Y'all is a good word, we really have no plural for you in English, I guess you can be either singular or plural but I prefer y'all as the plural. And to me it sounds better than youse guys...
 

My dear department MIL, who was from Missouri, instead of saying "y'all" said "you'ns" (pronounced "yew'inz") which I guess is a contraction of "you ones." And I heard that in parts of Pennsylvania, people say "yinz" which seems similar to what my MIL said.
 
I've lived in NY state most of my life, but also in Florida for six years in my late teens and early 20's.
Y'all is definitely a southern term, anyone I've ever met in NY state does not use that slang.
I personally have never liked it, nor the drawl.

So, I'll leave you guys to it.....
 
Now I'm gonna "tell on" the kids I grew up with--but I didn't like most of 'em anyway :ROFLMAO: --but I grew up outside of a large city in California and it was an almost all-white area, lot of money (not my family,of course not), and few times, kids from the South transferred in to our school and got unmercifully teased for their accents. And not gentle, goodhearted teasing; oh no, of course not! They were considered (and called sometimes to their faces) ignorant, racist hicks. All because of their accents and especially if they said "y'all." And it's possible some of the southern kids were indeed racist but there were plenty of racists born right there in Calif.; didn't have southern accents and never used racist terms but boy howdy was there racism anyway. :( And I don't remember joining in their scorn--I hope I didn't--I was so busy trying to stay invisible so the cool kids'd leave me alone. But how sad, right? Picking on people because of an accent and the word "y'all" which is a contraction just like "don't", "doesn't" and "isn't." (No wonder I think more highly of dogs and cats that humans, sigh.)
 
Right Now said:
Don't feel awful. Imagine how many times while living in FL I was teased for my NY accent! I wasn't even aware I had one.;)
Click to expand...
Interesting how everyone else's accents sound funny to us.

I have lost most of my southern drawl, you heard me on the zoom calls I doubt you detected it. Lived away from the south a lot. I do tend to get it back when amongst others with it.

If you have been back to the part of Florida we lived in back then you'd find the accent mostly gone. Florida has had a lot of people move in from all over.

I'll try to forgive you that Yankee accent, may not be easy... 🐊
 
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