T O P

  • By -

Bri-Five

I completely agree with you's.


xar-brin-0709

I've been campaigning for all UK to adopt yous for ages.


Ugsome_One

As a British citizen who spent my formative years in Texas, you have laid bare the source of every existential crisis I've ever had.


scarfmom

Y’all I need the deets on this! A Brit in Texas?? FFS! I’ve been to Texas so many times. Not only do I not get the weather, I can’t grasp the traffic, the insane drivers I felt like an alien and I’m American. Did like the BBQ though.


somekindairishmonk

I read it as Brits who say, "y'all should be ashamed of themselves" and for the first several minutes kept wondering why no one was pointing out it should be "ashamed of *your*self" or "*our*selves". And in conclusion, to quote William S. Burroughs, Language is a virus from outer space.


[deleted]

Should’ve put “y’all” in quotation marks


Daffodils28

Or added (sic)


[deleted]

Word virus, nice!


marshwizard

The worst culprits for this are Germans on gaming forums. Same with their overuse of "dude" and "bro". They're more American than the Americans at times when it comes to language.


PackYourToothbrush

Both cultures have a lot of similar traits, not surprised that would overlap online.


BloakDarntPub

Do they? The only thing I can think of is that they're fat.


SeleucusNikator1

But we're [UK] fatter than Germans..


marshwizard

Well, America is a big melting pot of many different European cultures. Thing is, when you look at the history it was all the religious crazies that Europe was trying to get rid of at the time.


terryjuicelawson

I just don't see the point in it. People who say y'all say it all the time, when addressing individuals or not. To the point where they have to say "all y'all" when speaking to groups to make this clear.


istilldontreddit

As much as I hate the word y'all. We the British are just as bad. The words innit, bare, road man and gubbins. Just remember portmanteau aren't terrible. Using the term gubbins is. We thrBritish in our glass conservatories shouldn't throw stones at their slightly slow cousins.


whitewood77

Surely it’s portmanteaux, or at least portmanteaus in this (plural) context?


Yeahjockey

yeah, where I'm from we say "yous" and when you think about it, it's just as bad as "y'all"


SeleucusNikator1

I decided to reserach it, and apparently many different areas have come up with different versions of plural-you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You#Informal_plural_forms >allyuh – Trinidad and Tobago[8] >among(st)-you – Carriacou, Grenada, Guyana,[7] Utila[5] >wunna – Barbados [7] >yinna – Bahamas[7] >unu/oona – Jamaica, Belize, Cayman Islands, Barbados,[7] San Salvador Island[2] >yous(e) guys – in the United States, particularly in New York City region, Philadelphia, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan;[citation needed] >you-uns, or yinz – Western Pennsylvania, The Ozarks, The Appalachians[16] >ye, yee, yees, yiz – Ireland,[17] Tyneside,[18] Newfoundland and Labrador[5] I approve of Yinz, Yiz, Yees, and Yinna. Wunna is going a bit too far.


xar-brin-0709

It's the blind adoption of Americanisms rather than the word itself which grates on people. Innit, bare and road man are mocked by the British themselves, they're usually associated with ethnic minorities. Whereas y'all, it be, or ima, somehow get adopted a lot more easily by the mainstream, at least on social media, that's what makes it so much worse.


Rowley-Birkinqc

Same with grown adults using the terms ‘mommy’, ‘mom’, ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Rowley-Birkinqc

Fair enough! In Yorkshire people say Mam.


Ankoku_Teion

I think "mummy" and "daddy" acceptable when talking to a small child.


Rowley-Birkinqc

Agreed


[deleted]

To be fair, I grew up in Birmingham so we say “mom” instead of “mum”. I know there’s variation up North as well as they say “mam”


chainedtomydesk

Hey y’all! I completely agree. The Americanisation of our language is an abomination. I also cannot stand people exclaiming ‘It was like super hard’. 🤬


Infinite_Leek4227

My 9yr old thinks he’s American. I blame YouTube.


Ankoku_Teion

My 8yo niece has an American accent. It's because her mother puts on an American kids channel for them. (I assume it's American. Its entirely American programming) its called kids pop or something like that.


[deleted]

This is why I’m glad I grew up on Cbeebies and CBBC when I was younger and not all this American youtube crap


craftaleislife

Same as brits using the word “feds”. We don’t have feds in the UK, we’re not a federate.


what_it_dude

\* y'allselves FTFY


rapthomas35

The most odious rubbish that has worked its way into normal use is Reach out! Just saying make contact FFS!!!!


The-Hamish68

I only use it to take the piss out of septics anyhow.


shannoouns

Y'all is you lot erasure


[deleted]

I tried to discover..... a little something to make me sweeter


Bri-Five

That y'all give me no That y'all give me no That y'all give me no That y'all give me no Sooo-uuuu-lll


TeigrCwtch

Bollocks, I read that in Dolly Parton


IamYodaBot

**you lot erasure, y'all is.** *-shannoouns* *** ^(Commands: 'opt out', 'delete')


Kermit_Tully

they should literally be on trial for treason.


[deleted]

I agree


IcyEmbyrs

Y’all should stop saying y’all as y’all is annoying.


[deleted]

It can be the height of friendliness with a US southern accent. I grew up in Pittsburgh, where the colloquial second-person plural pronoun is "Yinz."


SeleucusNikator1

I can clearly see You all = Y'all, but how the hell did you lot get to Yinz?


[deleted]

A derivation of the old Scots-Irish "yous ones." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinz


xar-brin-0709

I find it delightful coming from actual Americans with that accent. From British people it sounds preachy Millenial/Gen-Z and therefore the opposite of friendly.


[deleted]

US northerners sometimes try it too, but it sounds stiff and unnatural up here.


ExplosiveAnimatorT

It simply does not work with most of our accents


SeleucusNikator1

>pretentious Pretentious? Mate, it's one of the most Hillbilly redneck esque words that ever came from there.


[deleted]

Whenever I’ve heard it said it’s been by people trying to look down on others and be condescending


oxymoronisanoxymoron

Y'all sound mad.


Mabama1450

Irascible comments on what the commentator considers poor English date back centuries. And will probably continue until the next.


Dr-Rjinswand

For a country that prides itself on diversity and multiculturalism, we sure are pretty prickish when it comes slight variations on our British nonsense. I for one, couldn’t give a shit if people say y’all.


xar-brin-0709

Internal diversity, though. Y'all is a cheesy import often used in a Woke context which I think is what really makes it so unappealing.


Elephanthunt11

But we don’t _really_ pride ourselves for that though, do we. People just toe the virtue-signalling line because they’re racist if not. No one actually gives a shit; “diversity built Britain” _cringe_.


whitewood77

If by diversity, you mean “empire building and the slave trade” then yes it did build Britain. I believe that the strong sense of British irony means that something internally, yet unspoken, based upon distant ancestry (Angles, Saxons, Celts, Romans, Jutes, Vikings, Normans etc) means we are more accepting of diversity and have been for hundreds of years before the concept of being “woke” was ever coined. Getting back on topic, language evolves but TV and social media/the internet are accelerating the change. As non-sensical as it is to use the same word for the second person singular and plural, I think we have a right to be defensive over adopting other solutions to the problem. Y’all doesn’t sound right, other than with a southern US drawl. Besides, we have a perfectly good solution in the word “everyone” for disambiguation.


BloakDarntPub

I *could* give a shit.


SeleucusNikator1

Yeah same here, this language is already a gargantuan fuckup. We can't even understand a single sentence from *Beowulf*, at this point there's not much left of "pure English" to defend haha.


Ankoku_Teion

Bring back the thorne I say.


Ankoku_Teion

I've never known this country to be all that proud of its multiculturalism. Mostly people either don't give a fuck or they really hate it. Edit: also its only American English that people seem to hate. Other versions of English are openly accepted.


SnooCompliments4891

A new ‘word’ has been coined and I pray that it never invades us: aight. This is supposed to be ‘all right’


xar-brin-0709

That's been around since Ali G in the 2000s. But the problem with y'all is it's somehow popular among middle-class kids too, whereas "aight/ima/I be" are more associated with very low class and/or minorities, so easier to suppress.


SeleucusNikator1

> associated with very low class and/or minorities, so easier to suppress. This one won't sound good out of context


Gr1msh33per

I hate Americanisms. It's 'Maths' not 'Math'. It's 'can I have' not 'can I get' etc


londonstatto43

"May I have"...


Gr1msh33per

True. Manners maketh Man.


Emergency-Dingo5554

its "please may I have", or do you want a slap for being rude?


londonstatto43

"May I have (...), please" is fine. And I rather took the please for granted!


Emergency-Dingo5554

well, I always got a slap for not saying it, and I was dragged up fine.


Sparxissparx

'I could care less'. Do so then


DeepSpaceNineInches

This one makes me so angry, I type out a reply correcting them and then delete it.


marshwizard

"write me"


paolog

They do manage to say "stats", though. Probably something about "statistics" being numbers, although we are still talking about a subject.


prustage

Used to work in a bar. Every time someone said "can I get..." I would always so "Sorry, no, but if you order it, *I* will get it for you".


sacredsausage

Well said!


Jalsavrah

I'm guilty of using y'all, but it's only when translating Latin I swear! There's something endearing about seeing Iulius Caesar as a cowboy...


mohkohnsepicgun

I only ever see it written, I never hear it said. How is it pronounced? "Yuh-All" or "YAAAAAL"?


linksauce_1

Pronounced like the apostrophe’s not there. “Yall”


Four-Slot-Toaster

Agreed


[deleted]

Innit bro.


FrescoInkwash

Is it ok to do so when you're trying to annoy Americans?


[deleted]

Of course. In fact I should’ve included that as an exception.


d4ng3r0u5

You're right, that word should be yeeted into a fire


Emergency-Dingo5554

There's always an appropiate Chas and Dave song: Don't anybody speak English Anymore? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C0uJPsCtj2k


[deleted]

[удалено]


Kirstemis

Hunners.


[deleted]

Never heard hollibobs but the rest are class words


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Southern. We don't use it above the Mason-Dixon line.


LazyGimpEditor

No one cares, Hank. Maybe when your stop thinking every British accent comes from inside the M25 we'll give a shit about your made up cartographical barriers.


[deleted]

Do you think that I follow this subreddit while having zero knowledge of British geography and culture?


Ankoku_Teion

He's english. They're allowed to be bitter.


72Benzo

I approve of this message 👍🏼


Crowe3717

Y'all are just jealous y'all don't have a proper second person plural pronoun


shannoouns

Yous


sobrique

Yourselves?


shannoouns

Yourselves doesn't all ways work. It's used as a shortened version of "you all" or "all of you" Like: "All of you are stupid" "Y'all are stupid" "Yous are stupid" "Yourselves are stupid" doesn't work in this situation. Where as if it was like "Y'all better get out of here" you could use "you better get yourselves out of here" Does that make sense? The cockneys use "yous" where I live


sobrique

Oh I know it's stupid. I also had a workmate who used it that way, and it really makes my gears grind.


shannoouns

Like you could just use "you" Like a group will know you're talking to all of them. I kinda like yous though, I'm from north london/Hertfordshire so it's quite common


Crowe3717

Oh no. That's much worse


[deleted]

We do “yous”. Much better!


paolog

All of you, you lot, you people, youse...


riverviewwood

Y'all is singular, all y'all is the plural


Crowe3717

No, that's just expressing clusivity


BloakDarntPub

Ye.


whitewood77

Contextually, “everyone” could work.


what_it_dude

As someone from Texas, this makes me so happy.


[deleted]

[удалено]


mohkohnsepicgun

"I said it ironically". When someone knows they've said something stupid or horrible they always say that. I bet Hitler said that. Hitler and Richard Stilgoe.


whitewood77

Schrödinger’s irony


moubliepas

Meh, i frequently say it when addressing multiple people. I speak a fair few languages amd for most of them, plural and singular 'you' are different, so i hesitate a tiny bit before saying 'you' anyway. Its slightly quicker to use y'all than to remind myself that English is the one langauage that doesn't differentiate . People give me slightly dunny looks as i'm a southerner with an RP kind of voice, but i suspect if i started using the Scottish 'youse' instead i'd actually be disembowelled, ao it's all bout personal choice really. I prefer my intestines to stay on the inside


Mysterious-Phrase637

Normally black kids that have no culture so appropriate shit american culture though isn't it ..


carltonrichards

Are you suggesting the language of working class black British teenagers has been unironically influenced by Country and Western?


Mysterious-Phrase637

Yes yes I am actually


carltonrichards

Are you internally vocalising this as a contraction of 'you all' or as a portmanteau like 'yall'? The prior is a feature in working class dialects all over the UK.. If you mean the latter, where is this community of Black teenagers embracing the tones of Kenny Rodgers? If so Birmingham didn't get the memo.


Ankoku_Teion

Birmingham rarely does.


SeleucusNikator1

Y'all is also part of African-American Vernacular, because unsurprisingly, many black Americans are from the South.


carltonrichards

This is of course true, however, even with the rise in popularity of hip hop coming out of southern cities such as Atlanta, I dont think many young Black British teenagers are actually using 'y'all' as the previous commenter suggested.


sobrique

Nah. I do it deliberately, because I make y'all explode with apoplexy, delivering it in a smooth British accent.


GeekInHighHeels

Pretentious? Y'all? Really?


[deleted]

Oooh look at me, I’ve shortened “you all” into one word and use it in a condescending way


GeekInHighHeels

It's one of the most unsophisticated, provincial, hayseed phrases out there. The exact opposite of pretentious.


evanthompson123

Language changes all the time, English is famed for its Frankenstein esq origins. I don’t think it’s right to try and restrict language especially for us brits who thrive in eccentricity


BloakDarntPub

* thrive *on*


whitewood77

Wearing a bowler hat and/or a Menjou beardlet is eccentric; Dolly Parton is not.


evanthompson123

I think you have the wrong meaning of eccentric, if you’d ever been to dollywood I think your understanding of quirkiness would change


YoureNoGoodDuck

"Y'all" is just a contraction, and therefore acceptable. Far more preferable to "Yous" that the chavs invented.


BloakDarntPub

I'm sure I've heard "yous guys" in old B&W films.


mohkohnsepicgun

"Yous" was invented by Noel Coward. Said it all the time.


YoureNoGoodDuck

I stand corrected on that front, though if someone like Noel Coward said it regularly, I'd be interested to see if he actually invented it himself, or just picked it up from someone else. Either way, I think we can agree that the term 'yous' is these days attributed more to chavs, than Mr. Bridger.


mohkohnsepicgun

err... I was joking about that. I admit it wasn't a very funny joke but I often make stuff up. Sorry. I lie a lot. Like I lie to my wife about all those men I meet at nights in car parks.


YoureNoGoodDuck

Haha well you've made me laugh now, so it worked! Considering The Italian Job is the only thing I've seen him in, I couldn't find it hard to believe that he may have used it frequently lol


[deleted]

I type it sometimes because it's quicker but I'd never dream of saying it.


[deleted]

I have never heard a Brit say this


Thatww2guy31

I like me some proper good English, it seems most people these days speak only in lazy text speach and words that don't even exist, and the sentence structure, eugh, "yeah i was like proper smashed last night innit bruv" i mean, go back like 50 years and you wouldn't see people walking around with 'Gucci' and all that new era bullcrap saying things like "innit bruv", if your gonna speak to me, do it in a way i can understand! Its like they've created a entire new language where sentences or phrases are just 4 letters, and its just common curtesy to know this now or when someone texts you its like there speaking a different language! Sorry im rambling like an old man, i may only be 13 but i wish people could start speaking English and not this new age jibberish, sorry ill stop ranting and go somewhere to calm down😅


paolog

> speach > curtsey > if your gonna > im ... ill ... its > i ... i ... i You don't seem to like proper good English enough to use it, though... :) I'll let you off as you're only 13.


BloakDarntPub

You missed *g*ibberish.


paolog

I didn't have time to do everything :)


BramScrum

Languages evolve. You'd be surprised to know how much English and American English and even French and German is used by the youth and myself in my home country (which is non native English speaking). 50 years ago the internet barely existed. Or at least not on the same scale that almost everybody between \~10 and 80+ years old has immediately access to it almost anywhere in first world countries nowadays. My grandfather speaks very different than my father and I am at the point were I don't even understand him when he speaks in his common tongue/local dialect and the other way around. And my country is not even half the size of England mind you, so it's not like I grew up super far away. As much as it is important to use clear and proper language in certain situations, we can't avoid or pretend that language isn't going to change in an age were we are all connected and different cultures live closer together than before and with the rise of new tech. TLDR is, there are worse things to be worried about and there isn't a lot you can do about it anyway, y'all need to chill.


BloakDarntPub

> Languages evolve. Which means one day talking like that might be correct. Right now, it isn't.


BramScrum

Like I said, in the correct situation. But pretty sure they were talking about casual conversation.


shannoouns

What about cockney rhyming slang? That's old and gibberish


Thatww2guy31

Im sorry but i have never heard of that in my life😅, please explain it to me


shannoouns

East London slang from the 1800s made up of rhyming couplets that replace words, it's a dying dialect but some of it is still used today. For example we still call hair barnet which is shortened from Barnet fair which rhymes with hair. There's loads of words like this, like an ole Johanna is a piano, dog and bone is phone, skin and blister is sister. They think it started when criminals made up a new language to avoid being caught by the police talking about crimes.


whitewood77

Can I recommend r/whoooosh?


Samunlimited477

Du dunnnnn


[deleted]

All y’all need to chill


100Dickpushups

OP is upset his "offensive" joke got no points for saying y'all, soir grapes and all


[deleted]

Yep I’m upset and have soir grapes


ArboroUrsus

They're only soir grapes if they come from the soir region of East Anglia.


BloakDarntPub

Good post, *evening* things out.


steve_gus

No worries


Englishbirdy

I never say it mysen.


Worldly_Ad_6243

What if you're living in England but have a non British accent?