Comments on: Just in from Charlotte: A new variation on ‘y’all’?

By: Katherine

Katherine — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:26:14 +0000

I think the apostrophe s is about possession, not about number.

By: ClassicBlazer

ClassicBlazer — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:12:01 +0000

Y’uns in the WNC, N Georgia mountains

Y’all and yeah c’mon in Atlanta

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:03:26 +0000

I’m pretty sure I say y’all-es frequently. As in, those are y’all-es. I’ve never really thought about how I do that though. Funny….(and I live in Charlotte. Mostly my whole life, but have family influences with eastern nc dialects.)

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:13:20 +0000

I haven’t heard y’all’s-es’ but I have no doubt that it’s been said. The other, more common, redundancy is “All y’all” as in, “I need all y’all in the photo,” or “All y’all are going to be in trouble if you don’t stop …” It only SOUNDS redundant. It’s used for emphasis, I think, to make clear that you don’t just mean some of the group, but the whole gang.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:41:43 +0000

Moving to CLT when I was 11 from the Midwest, I had a very keen ear for what was a second language for me. Y’allses is plural possessive that was commonly heard by me growing up in CLT and rural Iredell County in the 70s. The server was simply saying this food is the food that belongs to the people at this table. Possessives, even without the plural, are really creatively interpreted (that is Forresteses = that belongs to Forrest–I am not even going to try to put an apostrophe in there). Put an “s” sound in the word, and the problem compounds. I am not sure that it is in linguistic rotation in other parts of NC, but it was a staple of local language in Piedmont NC when I grew up. I am not sure what y’allses experiences were.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:50:39 +0000

I don’t think it is new. I’ve heard it plenty. I’ve been known to use it once or twice, perhaps, lol.