[Publib] "You Guys"

[Abbie Anderson]

I have to add my favorite from over twenty years' soujourn in southern
Indiana:

you'uns (say, "YOOuhNZ", with the "uh" barely pronounced--it's a very
comfortably ellided two syllables)

Are any of you familiar with that one?! It's "you ones" conflated, methinks.
It's very common among southern Indiana natives, and may well be common in
Kentucky, too.

I rather like "y'all," which was common in Indiana as well. Or I'll go with
"all of you", if I'm feeling energetic and grammatically
correct.We*definitely* need a 2nd-person plural in English. And while
we're all at it,
an inclusive and an exclusive first person plural (i.e., a "we" including
the person I'm talking to, and a "we" *not* including the person I'm talking
to).

I grew up in Seattle, and am now in my forties and back in southwestern
Washington (I work in Woodland, 20 mi. north of Vancouver WA). Out here "you
guys" is pretty much standard practice and gender-free, although the gender
normatization to the masculine form kinda bugs me, too, when I'm feeling
extra literal-minded (as if we should all be male).

 And we haven't even started talking about a gender-neutral 2nd-person
singular! I think it's hilarious that usage has pretty much defaulted to
"they", even when the context is clearly and specifically one gender over
another and a plural pronoun is grammatically incorrect (i.e., it would
be both accurate and appropriate to say "she" or "he", but you say "they"
anyway).

--Abbie

On 7/12/07, Kathi Kemp-Tejeda <batonrouger2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Well, this semi-old, Louisiana native, Wisconsin
> resident, is on a mission to implement the Correct Use
> of the Second-Person Plural (y'all) to replace the
> gender-oblivious "you guys," the awful-sounding
> "youse" (plural "yousins") and other crippled excuses
> for the non-existent subject form.
>
> Who's with me?  Come on, y'all, let's fix this.
>
> Kathi Kemp-Tejeda
> Eager Free Public Library
> Evansville, Wisconsin
>
> --- Bruce Bumbalough <Bbumbalough at ci.grapevine.tx.us>
> wrote:
>
> > Well, this too old, no suit owning, non conference
> > going stick in the mud of a librarian grew up in
> > Michigan where you guys was the norm for all groups
> > and then moved to Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia and
> > finally Texas among the south of the Mason-Dixon
> > line extended states and he prefers y'all because it
> > is a more accurate statement.
> >
> > 12/2007 10:21 AM >>>
> > Hi, John,
> >
> > I'm from The Big Apple, and up there, we use "you
> > guys" when addressing a crowd, no matter its gender.
> >  After reading your post, though, I'm rethinking
> > this habit.  Since I still say "dawg" and "cawfee,"
> > I won't feel comfortable using the southern plural
> > of you:  "y'all."  I'm going to opt for an authentic
> > variation and say "youse" from now on. Thanks for
> > setting me straight.  Youse are awl good people. An'
> > I mean dat.
> >
> >   -- Kathleen
> >
> >
> > "Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to
> > find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill
> > the tasks which it constantly sets for each
> > individual."     -- Victor E. Frankl
> >
> >
> >
> > Bruce Bumbalough
> > Reference Librarian
> > Grapevine Public Library
> > 1201 Municipal Way
> > Grapevine, TX 76051
> >
> > 817-410-3404 or 817-410-3449
> > bbumbalough@ ci.grapevine.tx.us
> > > _______________________________________________
> > Publib mailing list
> > Publib at webjunction.org
> > http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
**********************
aanderson at fvrl.org
Abbie Anderson, Community Librarian
Woodland Community Library
Fort Vancouver Regional Library District
   "The story is our guide. Without it we are blind." --Chinua Achebe
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