On Tue, 2005-02-01 at 20:12 +0200, Richard Braakman wrote: > On Mon, Jan 31, 2005 at 03:41:51PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote: > > On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 11:04:36 -0700, Joel Aelwyn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > > > > > *) English common usage (rather than formal usage) is rapidly and > > > widely adopting "singular they" (much like a lot of the country uses > > > "y'all", or "you all" for those who don't want to sound Southern, > > > for a second person plural). This may be offensive to purists, but > > > frankly, purists shouldn't be speaking English in the first > > > place. It's a terrible language for purity. :) > > > > A nit: y'all is singular. "all y'all" is plural. Notherners > > often get this wrong. > > Hmm. In my experience in Houston, the singular was y'all and the > plural was y'alls. Could this be region-specific? Or perhaps > a city / country distinction?
I live in Houston, and sometimes y'all is singular (plural, all y'all; possessive, y'all's) and sometimes y'all is plural. Usually it's the former, but I've never heard of y'alls being plural. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
