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[GlyphGryph]

Wait, is y'all really used for second person singular? I'm not sure I've ever heard that - in fact, I'm pretty sure I remember the Southerners I know explicitly making fun of people who do that "trying to sound southern and failing".

Huh.

[Leafsnail]

Pronouns shifting over to other slots, especially vacant slots, are a pretty common thing in all languages! (moreso in declension langues, even)

But yeah, whole life => lie.

Yeah, the language has really been going downhill since Chaucer.

[Descan]

I'm in Canada and I use it. Not even on purpose. *shrug*

[penguinofhonor]

Kentuckian reporting. Y'all is definitely only plural.

[ChairmanPoo]

*Playing*
"Oh no, the male witch has locked the door to the pyramid! How will the kid escape?"
"We'll call the policeguy and he'll kill the witch and cut out his heart and throw it in the pyramid."

WTF you're 3 years old!? Go play with your my little ponies again. No more snowwhite for you.

Why can't I help but picture that scene with a chorus chanting in the background "Repo-man!"

[Frumple]

Kentuckian reporting. Y'all is definitely only plural.

Northern Floridian. It gets used for both down here, though more often plural than not.

[GlyphGryph]

But we all know North Floridians aren't really southerners, so I'm not sure if that's any good as evidence. (They seem to mostly be people from new england who got tired of the cold and WANT to be southerners, in my experience.)

[FearfulJesuit]

That's south Florida. Frumple, you're from Panhandlestan, right?

[Frumple]

But we all know North Floridians aren't really southerners, so I'm not sure if that's any good as evidence. (They seem to mostly be people from new england who got tired of the cold and WANT to be southerners, in my experience.)

Um, no. At least not the ones I deal with. We're more a part of Alabama than anything to do with the rest of Florida or the snow birds. Panhandle has some (and only some) of that in the larger cities and near the beaches, but that excludes most of the geography up here.

And aye, dho.

[Lord Dullard]

Bah. As everyone knows, nobody's been born in Florida since 1877.

[Frumple]

Except the ones that have been inbreeding. Which composes basically the entire rural population of the panhandle.

I joke, only somewhat.

Now south Florida... Yeah. They either come from out of state or out of country, to a fairly large extent. North florida is an entirely different sort of beast. We're basically two states stuck in one, really.

[RedKing]

Wait, is y'all really used for second person singular? I'm not sure I've ever heard that - in fact, I'm pretty sure I remember the Southerners I know explicitly making fun of people who do that "trying to sound southern and failing".

Huh.

"Y'all eat yet?" -- depending on context, may refer to the addressee or the addressee and his immediate group.
"Well why don't y'all come on in and set a spell?" -- perfectly valid question to a single individual


Granted, it's not nearly as common as a singular (and using it as such sounds more..."country"), but it's a valid use. Often contrasted with "all y'all" as the plural form, in that case.

And yes, there's a certain segment of Southern grammar Nazis that insist it's only a plural. They's forgettin' that the only valid rules in a language are the ones that folks actually reckon on they selves. 

[GlyphGryph]

Just for reference, where in the south can you confirm this interesting linguistic rebellion against the southern status quo, RedKing?

[Frumple]

... north Florida. Tristate area (Alabama, Georgia, Florida panhandle) in general, really, especially the more geographically southern parts.

[RedKing]

Just for reference, where in the south can you confirm this interesting linguistic rebellion against the southern status quo, RedKing?

I've certainly heard that usage among my extended family (central NC; Davidson, Randolph and Guilford counties). I seem to recall it from my great-uncle from east Texas as well, although his accent is so damn thick it's hard to tell what he's saying some times.

The more I think of it, the more I think it's a very rural usage. There's also the special case of using it to address a single individual as a representative of a larger group, such as asking a restaurant waiter, "What y'all got on special?" or telling a business clerk, "I sent y'all my check last week." In the latter case, the speaker is not necessarily stating that they sent the check to that specific clerk, although that might be the case.