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In Defense of Y'All
291–300 of 381 posts
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I use parner for non-gender reasons: - You might not know their status (married? Dating?) and the phrase “significant other” is clunky - for grown adults, terms like boyfriend/girlfriend can come off as a little dismissive or juvenile
I've been a grown adult for a long time and still use boyfriend/girlfriend. This obsession with absolute correctness is probably why we are so miserable all the time.
To me it's simple
1. Married -> Husband/Wife
2. Dating -> Girlfriend/Boyfriend
3. Middle Ground -> Fiance/fiancee
I've yet to see a case this doesn't cover so "partner" seems like a solution looking for a problem.
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#293I tease non-Texans that Texan English is actually superior to normal American English because it supports second-person plural via "Y'all" exactly as mentioned in this article... "you guys" is, to some ears, sexist, and "youse guys" (a New York-ism) is a little too old-school Italian. English lost its second person plural when we switched from Thou (second person singular formal + Thee=second person singular informal…
> because it supports second-person plural via "Y'all" exactly as mentioned in this article... "you guys" is, to some ears, sexist Many people nowadays are happy to use "singular they" to refer to specific, definite individuals whose gender is not in question, and seem not to worry at all about creating ambiguity with the ordinary plural use of "they" (despite frequently doing so). So why would they care about being…
It's usually very clear from context whether singular-gender-neutral they or plural-they is on use.
"you" is most frequently used in direct address, a context where it is frequently necessary to distinguish between addressing an individual in a group or the group as a whole
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#294Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a native midwesterner, I get more annoyed and defensive than I should when people complain that “you guys” isnt gender neutral. Where I come from, everyone is “a guy”. It can mean “male person”, but that’s only if you use it in specific contexts that brings up gender (like saying “guys and gals”).
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I wonder why you find the term "partner" insufferable? As a Midwesterner comfortable with "you guys," I refer to my partner as my partner because it feels far more appropriate after dating for 7 years than "girlfriend." I also don't care whether others assume I am straight or gay.
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#295Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use parner for non-gender reasons: - You might not know their status (married? Dating?) and the phrase “significant other” is clunky - for grown adults, terms like boyfriend/girlfriend can come off as a little dismissive or juvenile
I've been a grown adult for a long time and still use boyfriend/girlfriend. This obsession with absolute correctness is probably why we are so miserable all the time. To me it's simple 1. Married -> Husband/Wife 2. Dating -> Girlfriend/Boyfriend 3. Middle Ground -> Fiance/fiancee I've yet to see a case this doesn't cover so "partner" seems like a solution looking for a problem.
"Fiance/fiancee" is not a middle-ground, it means you have proposed and your partner has agreed to marriage.
There are plenty of couples who may as well be married, but choose not to participate in that social construct.
Your comment about correctness is a bit ironic in context however.
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#296Earlier quoted context omitted.
latinx is nothing compared to "folx"
Isn't "folx" lingo or jargon? Like, let me explain a bit... Just like "shade", "tea", and other queer lingo that was predominantly used within the queer community, "folx" was originally (in recent usage) a term that was used by some queer folk as a signal to indicate safety and inclusiveness. But like "shade", some outsiders heard that jargon and started using it in communities where it wasn't common, and didn't carr…
These are all black American words, not "queer lingo." Other than "folks" which is Southern, but comes to upper-middle class white people through Obama's act of pretending he had ever met black Americans before college at UCLA.
They come from the long tradition of gay men copying black American female mannerisms, not anything "queer."
> I suspect the real "villains" here to you are the folk who pull that jargon out and try to make it widespread.
Gay men have contributed a lot to world culture, they're not villains.
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#297Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't "folx" lingo or jargon? Like, let me explain a bit... Just like "shade", "tea", and other queer lingo that was predominantly used within the queer community, "folx" was originally (in recent usage) a term that was used by some queer folk as a signal to indicate safety and inclusiveness. But like "shade", some outsiders heard that jargon and started using it in communities where it wasn't common, and didn't carr…
People absolutely say "folks" in person nowadays (of course you wouldn't be able to hear a distinction between "ks" and "x"). It's common (although, yes, mediated by subculture) around where I live. I grew up in a culture where nobody had a problem with "you guys". I am really not that old, and I still live in the same city. As for "not carrying the original intent" - I don't see how there's any meaningful difference…
Folx is exclusively a written construct. It's not the same as folks. They do sound the same though.
> I grew up in a culture where nobody had a problem with "you guys".
Did no one have a problem? Or did no one voice a problem? I'd believe the latter, but I don't know how it would be possible to know the former.
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#298I tease non-Texans that Texan English is actually superior to normal American English because it supports second-person plural via "Y'all" exactly as mentioned in this article... "you guys" is, to some ears, sexist, and "youse guys" (a New York-ism) is a little too old-school Italian. English lost its second person plural when we switched from Thou (second person singular formal + Thee=second person singular informal…
We still use "ye" for 2nd person plural in (much of) Ireland
Except of course working-class Dublin, where its "yous" or "yis"
And I've heard "yousuns" in the North
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#299Earlier quoted context omitted.
> language changes over time But this language has not been changing over time. This was a dictate from HR departments, made up from whole cloth. If anything has changed over time, it's that "gals" has been an anachronism for a long while, outside of a few isolated corners of the Southern and Western US where it can still manage to sound cute in some contexts. We don't really need a special diminutive for groups of w…
I'd hardly call Red Lobster formal. "Red Lobster Hospitality, LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain," according to Wikipedia.
Any interaction a 16 year old employee has with a group of strange women who are customers and are older than him should be respectful.
Re: In Defense of Y'All
#300I tease non-Texans that Texan English is actually superior to normal American English because it supports second-person plural via "Y'all" exactly as mentioned in this article... "you guys" is, to some ears, sexist, and "youse guys" (a New York-ism) is a little too old-school Italian. English lost its second person plural when we switched from Thou (second person singular formal + Thee=second person singular informal…
In Michigan, "you guys" is as gender neutral as a phrase can get. I think it's kind of funny, but it's completely true. (And frankly, I think most of the language policing stuff like this is just vastly overthinking things anyway, but that's just my opinion.)
That said, I got into a habit of saying "y'all" in high school anyways, mainly because it's fun to say.