madcaptenor

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Show threadmadcaptenor21h ago
No, because "you in the back" could refer to just one person in the back, instead of several. So "y'all in the back" is more specific. (Of course names are an option in this context.)
Show threadmadcaptenor21h ago
No. As far as I can tell, singular "y'all", when it exists, is an implied plural. What you might hear as singular "y'all" is, say, when you go into a restaurant and say "do y'all have Coke?" to the server - that doesn't refer to just the server but to the restaurant as a whole. But I'm not a linguist and also I don't spend much time among people with heavier Southern dialect, so you shouldn't believe what I say.
Show threadmadcaptenor22h ago
What if you're addressing part of the class, though? Like "y'all in the back, you need to get back to your work".
Show threadmadcaptenor22h ago

Before I moved to the South I (a non-Southerner) did not feel comfortable saying "y'all". But "you guys" seemed sexist. I have since spent a decade in the South and I have not picked up much of the dialect, but I definitely say "y'all" now.

"W'all" would be nice to have. I guess it's not a thing because it sounds too much like the things that separate rooms.