Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Maybe this'll learn ya'
A couple of weeks ago I was on a business trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma. While they hotel I was staying in was nice, there was one thing that really bothered me. On the nightstand was a cutesy little advertising standup that had a picture of a tornado over the words "Ya'll picked a great time to visit Oklahoma" or something similar. What disturbed me was the patent misspelling of the word "y'all."
For some reason, Yankees and others feel that "ya'll" is right. Why would this contraction be the only one to defy convention? The rule is simple -- the apostrophe replaces the missing letter/s in a contraction. Therefore, you get "don't," not "do'nt" and "should've" and not "shou'ldve."
When I was naught but a pup, my father warned me against falling for the "ya'll" trap. He explained that it was all a Yankee plot to make the work look ridiculous. So, whether you are Southern or not, please don't maul "y'all."
On another note, "y'all" is not singular. I was in New Hampshire a number of years ago, and a few people noting the Southern dew drops in my voice would say something like "Where a y'all from?" in an attempt a humor. My response is always thus, "From a place where you'd get your ass kicked for using 'y'all' inappropriately."
Look, if this is too hard, you can always fall back to you'uns.
For some reason, Yankees and others feel that "ya'll" is right. Why would this contraction be the only one to defy convention? The rule is simple -- the apostrophe replaces the missing letter/s in a contraction. Therefore, you get "don't," not "do'nt" and "should've" and not "shou'ldve."
When I was naught but a pup, my father warned me against falling for the "ya'll" trap. He explained that it was all a Yankee plot to make the work look ridiculous. So, whether you are Southern or not, please don't maul "y'all."
On another note, "y'all" is not singular. I was in New Hampshire a number of years ago, and a few people noting the Southern dew drops in my voice would say something like "Where a y'all from?" in an attempt a humor. My response is always thus, "From a place where you'd get your ass kicked for using 'y'all' inappropriately."
Look, if this is too hard, you can always fall back to you'uns.
Centinel 4:04 PM #