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As an ex new englander I approve of y’all over youse because it’s hard to use “youse” efficiently without saying “youse guys”.
"What do youse want to do?" "What do youse guys want to do?" "What do y'all want to do?" <= you're an American or playing one in a movie
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "you guys" is sexist is it though?
It's not sexist at all, and anyone who objects to it on those grounds is flat out looking for excuses to be offended.
The new second person plural is "chat". I can't decide if I'm making a joke or not by saying that.
The new second person plural is "chat". I can't decide if I'm making a joke or not by saying that.
Spanish: "ustedes" (formal) and "vosotros" (informal in Spain) or "vos" in some regions
French: "vous" is the standard, but informally there's "vous autres" in Quebec French
Portuguese: "vocês" formally, but "cês" informally in Brazilian Portuguese
German: While "ihr" is standard, some dialects use "ihr alle" or regional variants
Italian: "voi" is standard, but some southern dialects use "vujatri" or similar variants
Greek: "εσείς" (eseis) formally, but informally "εσείς όλοι" (eseis oli)
Russian: "вы" (vy) is standard, but "вы все" (vy vse) is used for emphasis
Arabic: "أنتم" (antum) is standard, with "إنتو" (intu) in dialects
I am most fascinated by Y'alls', a double possessive or possessive plural contraction which is common in Southern American English and AAVE (African American Vernacular English) which would otherwise be constructed more awkwardly in common American English as "all of your" or "your all's."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Early Modern English, you is inherently plural; the singular form is thou . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou
thou is the singular intimate. (compare the tu- form, in french). You could be singular or plural, but it was always formal. (compare the vous- form, in french) Knowing this puts a whole new spin on things like the KJV, since as moderns we hear "thou" and think "fancy old timey speech! very formal!" and it is exactly the opposite. Quakers/Friends chose the thou- form as the preferred form to address everyone; this wa…
I 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…
Only a true Texan can tell you the difference between "y'all" and "all y'all".
Canadian here using y'all every day. Might as well make it the formal English plural.