Definitions
Etymologies
- Contraction of you all. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Now, despite my nigh-on bilingual skills, I'm going to be honest with you and admit that my knowledge of country music pretty much begins and ends with the word y'all.”
“Friday Night Lights fans, be warned: Britton's supportive, "y'all"-spouting housewife does not live here.”
First Look: Ryan Murphy's "Psychosexual Thriller" American Horror Story: It's No Glee!
“All y'all" - that just warms the cockles of my eastern elitist heart.”
“Hopefully I will get to meet some of y'all sometime.”
“But that's here, in Europe I have to say vais if I don't want to be too formal with y'all.”
“There is I AM, you ARE, he IS, but then it's once again, we ARE, y'all ARE, they ARE.”
“Now y'all behave yourself and post under your own colors so the mod can delete you on your own merits, if so deserved.”
“If y'all had California and you loved it, then you shouldn't have given that mothaf*cka up.”
The Huffington Post: Luis J. Rodriguez: Why We Need a Deeper Dialogue on Black-and-Brown Relations
“Here is some of what Katt Williams said during his tirade: ... it appears to me, y'all like it over here a lot...”
The Huffington Post: Luis J. Rodriguez: Why We Need a Deeper Dialogue on Black-and-Brown Relations
“I don't know if the GOP missed the whole decline and fall of would-be Nevada Senator Sue Lowden, but let me reinforce the message for them: y'all should avoid talking about chickens.”
The Huffington Post: Ohio's John Kasich Continues GOP's Year-Long Chicken Problem
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘y'all’.
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Americanism
American words
finest, fast food, acclimate, aluminum, alphabetize, airplane, affirmative action, arugula, backhoe, bangs, base board, bayou and 162 more...
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You, plural
"You" used to be plural only, but since we lost "thou", "you" has to do double duty as both singular and plural. This can lead to confusion.
Happily, alternative plural pronouns are av...you, you all, y'all, all y'all, you guys, yinz, you lot, youse guys, youse, y'uns, all y'all, kalian and 4 more...
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Twitter faves
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
niglets, aw, flakey, shiznit, thatch, sexy, bummers, hotty, eargasms, ratchetry, weird, fab and 457 more... -
Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
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Favorite Words That Aren't Really Words
Whether slang, acronyms, or madeupical, they're too good not to put on some list or other. See the companion list, "Favorite Words That Are Really More Like Phrases," here.
pwned, craptacular, embiggen, phwoar, dealie-bob, doojiggy, bootylicious, craptastic, ^_^, π, oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-ti..., gustnado and 326 more...
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Some Wednesday words
Just another arbitrary list of words that come up for me today, June 20 2007
tutelage, hobby horse, abracadabra, occipital, martinet, margarita, persona, cute, sharp, acute, confabulate, conspire and 97 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Dimélion's "Worst of"
my least-favorite words of all.
spittle, sweets, delicious, milk, tasty, treats, shitty, crappy, -ass, nice, dainty, y'all and 17 more...
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suunflowerss's Words
bakery, crisp, pollywog, crescent, chrysanthemum, aluminum, turquoise, bazooka, crotch rocket, paisley, vermouth, dildo and 107 more...
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Jheti's Words
ordinarily, diacritic, intrinsic, coalesce, salient, valence, crenellations, expurgate, relapse, disconsolate, matriculation, corrugated and 128 more...
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redchuck's Words
diagetic, melungeon, palimpsest, y'all, fandango, corpuscule, dibble, bedouin, flanger, antediluvian, camphor, nadir and 69 more...
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slevenback's Words
cabal, opiate, jib, concise, cogent, pique, y'all, reckon, rassle, ficus, pecan, kindling and 72 more...
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gamine's list
gefilte fish, basil, malaise, lethe, lumiere, phaedra, ashen, pallid, grey, cake, narcissist, nihilist and 40 more...
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Words I absolutely loathe.
moist, supple, twelfth, secrete, birthday, y'all, whet, fungus, penal, chillax, cupboard, gyrate and 17 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for y'all.
chained_bear See usage on y'all's. Jun 24, 2009
pterodactyl Here's a map that shows just how Southern this word is. Apr 13, 2008
reesetee *worried about sionnach trailing off incoherently* Jan 17, 2008
sionnach assmarmot's got my vote, dadgumit. Not that I'm biased in any way. But it's got such range and versatility, not to mention that satisfying mouthfeel that comes from just the right melange of plosives and fricatives (clearly I'm winging it here - I wouldn't know a fricative from a glottal stop).
What's the matter? Assmarmot got your tongue?
Autem diver came from a long line of assmarmots, so his appearance on the docket, charged with being a kirkbuzzer, came as no great surprise to Constable Crittens, nor to any of his krafty kittens.
Your behavior is completely unacceptable, sir! Rubbing up against people in the subway
in a brazen display of crass frottage
is the kind of assmarmottage
Which should only be conducted in a glass cottage...
*Trails off incoherently* Jan 17, 2008
reesetee Vote early and often! Jan 17, 2008
chained_bear Ummm... "all y'all" is the plural for "y'all." *confused*
I think assmarmot should be the word of the year. Yes, I know it's only January. Jan 17, 2008
asativum I had a Texan tell me with a straight face once that all y'all was the plural for y'all.
But sionnach, assmarmot? Jan 17, 2008
sionnach I like all y'all and its possessive form all y'all's myself. Though I can see it might not work for the likes of Cormac McCarthy, given his idiosyncratic (and stingy) way with apostrophes.
Oh, what the hell, I'll just get this off my chest.
HEY: McCarthy. What the freak is your freaking deal with apostrophes, and with punctuation generally? It's not that hard, douchebag! It makes you seem like a pretentious assmarmot. But maybe you don't care. Jan 16, 2008
reesetee Well jeez, mafunzalo, you've barely met us and already we're driving you....
Oh. Jan 16, 2008
mafunzalo Y'all drives me nuts! What's wrong with having "you" represent both singular and plural usages? Certainly there are others! Who can list them? Jan 16, 2008
reesetee Arby, points off for starting this discussion again! ;-> Oct 12, 2007
arby I like y'all because we no longer have thou or ye or whichever one was the plural "you" form in English, so I figure it's actually serving a useful purpose and therefore cut it a break for being technically incorrect.
Also, it amuses me personally to say it because I am like the epitome of a Yankee but my entire family's from the South, so I know just how transgressive I am being. Oct 12, 2007
chained_bear Important to note that "y'all" is not used ONLY for groups of people. It can be used as a "folksy" (I hate that word) counterpart to the more formal "you" in some other languages (e.g. French, German). "Y'all are just a jerk, that's all." Feb 9, 2007
reesetee Y'ins are weird. ;-) Feb 8, 2007
jennarenn Yes, but "Is this for y'all?" defeats the whole point of saving half a second. Feb 8, 2007
seanahan It only took 32 days, but I finally got some responses. Feb 7, 2007
uselessness This word is one of my guilty pleasures. I'm an enormous stickler when it comes to spelling and grammar and punctuation... but I figure if I'm even using y'all I've already broken the rules. So at that point, who even cares about spelling and punctuation and grammar? It all goes out the window. I use y'all and all its illegal variants, and I don't care. I'm the James Dean of proper English. Feb 7, 2007
chained_bear Oh yeah, my (Yankee) family mocks me for saying "y'all" all the time, but really I live in the South, I have no choice. I'll take more guff for saying "you guys" or "youse" than I would for saying "y'all."
I like these:
y'all
all y'all's OR
y'all's's (pronounced "yallses")
y'all'll (a.k.a. y'all are gunna)
y'all've
y'all're
y'all'r'n't (as in "y'all'r'n't gunna leave now, are y'all?" I'd say "y'all aren't" except that isn't how y'all pronounce it)
I can't think of any more right now, my brain is tired. Y'all'll go on without me anyways.
P.S. trivet? I worry about apostrophes all the time. It's my job. :-) No, really, it is. Feb 7, 2007
trivet Who worries about apostrophes when using y'all? I'd go with y'all's and all y'all's, myself. There's also the option of saying "Is this for y'all?" instead of "Is this y'all's?" Feb 7, 2007
jennarenn I always use "y'all". There was some commotion at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta b/c somebody held up a sign spelled ya'll. You just don't *do* that in the South. Personally, I have always wondered about the possessive. Is it y’all’s and all y'alls'? Feb 7, 2007
seanahan What is the general consensus on the punctuation? Jan 6, 2007
stpeter And my favorite contraction, the future y'all'll. Jan 6, 2007
andrew.simone don't forget you'ins (sp?) Dec 18, 2006