Yuns and y'all

Question

Does anyone else use the words "yuns" and "y'all"? I use them all the time haha!! No one where I live hardly says "you", but it is greatly understood. We say "yuns" and "y'all" at home etc, but if we got out, we say "you" most the time. Some people have stopped using "yuns" and "y'all" and just say "you".

In Brooklyn they say "yous" - "ustedes" - 005faa61, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 1

Hi, Reid. I'm from the American South, and I grew up hearing and saying "ya'll," but I've never heard "yuns." "Ya'll" is a contraction of "you all," which is Southern for "you" when speaking to more than one person. We always used "you," never "ya'll," when speaking to one person.

Do you say things like "Mama 'n'em"?

Exactly the same with me. :) - bosquederoble, Oct 9, 2015

Well us kids from Southern Spain have a Y'all too. It's called "vosotros" :) - Daniela2041, Oct 9, 2015

Yuns is slang for you all as well. I've only heard that in the Northern states. - rac1, Oct 9, 2015

If speaking to a group of people and wanting to make sure all of them are included, a Southerner will sometimes say "all ya'll": All ya'll come on over to the house for Sunday dinner." - AnnRon, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 2

"Mama n'em" reminds me that in Spanish for "madre" we use "mamá, mami, y 'amá For padre we use "papá, papi, y 'apá."

Ej. ¿Y qué te dijo tu papi? ----Pos mi apá me dijo----etc.

digo "dad" en inglés. Los niñitos dicen "daddy" - Reid13, Oct 9, 2015

Probably should have put "me" in front of digo and "se" in front of dicen - Reid13, Oct 9, 2015

Mi Español es mal pero estoy aprendido - Reid13, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 3

I have heard "you 'uns" but never slurred to "yuns". It means "you ones" similar to you all. These are informal ways of making the pronoun you plural with no ambiguity. There are many dialects in American English but not all of them make it into the written word. Some dialects do not depend on literacy so spelling is totally at the whim of the person who attempts to put a spoken dialectical word in writing. The term "you guys" seems to be used by young people - and at my age that's almost everyone, but I don't see it in writing much.

Generally, Reid13, you do not add to your post by using the answer box. You can post your comments to an answer in the "Add Comment" box under it. Just click on that. You can also add to your original post by using the edit function.

I hope you are advancing in you Spanish study. Thank you for participating in the forum.

One of the funniest things I ever heard a southerner say was. "Hit don't make no difference nohow now do hit?" - Daniela2041, Oct 9, 2015

Or, "hit don't make no nevermind" - Winkfish, Oct 9, 2015

How about: "I don't know but what it might not just rain!" - Jubilado, Oct 9, 2015

@wink: That's the way it went. "nevermind" - Daniela2041, Oct 9, 2015

I've heard your phrase many times as well, Dani. - Winkfish, Oct 9, 2015

I 'see' what you're saying! ;) - jrschenk, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 4

Another New Orleans favorite saying is "I'm going to make groceries" instead of "I'm going to buy groceries." It comes from the French "faire son marché," to do your market shopping, "faire" meaning to do or to make (like "hacer").

Let me ax you a question. - rac1, Oct 9, 2015

Ax me. ;-) - Winkfish, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 5

One of the things they say here in New Orleans is: "It's in the room". No matter what you are looking for, "It's in The room.

Yeah, dey ain't nuttin like da N'Awlins wayuh tawkin'!! - Winkfish, Oct 9, 2015

True dat! - rac1, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 6

If they don't say "y'all" or "yuns", they say "you guys" even if it's a woman being talked to.

Right. When I was a teenager "you guys" was just making its way into Southern speech. It was considered perhaps a bit affected. That was a long time ago. - AnnRon, Oct 9, 2015

"You guys" actually started up in the northeast of the States, I believe. Of course we in the South are usually slow to catch on. - Winkfish, Oct 9, 2015

We aren't slow, just laid back. lol - rac1, Oct 9, 2015

Yeah you right, Dawlin'! You doin' awright, Bay? Shame about K Paul passin', huh? - Winkfish, Oct 9, 2015

Fo sho. It is sad. - rac1, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 7

Some people say "mama" and some people say "mother", "mom", and "mommy"(little kids mostly say mommy and mama")! We say "ma'am and sir"! We do say 'n'em haha!! A lot of old people or middle age people say "warsh" instead of "wash". Old people say "warshing powders" instead of "washing detergent".

I live in Kentucky. - Reid13, Oct 9, 2015

I remember being surprised in first or second grade to learn that there is no "r" in "wash." - AnnRon, Oct 9, 2015

Answer 8

When people are just talking to one person, they say "you".

Exactly. I met a man from Louisiana, though, who said "ya'll" when addressing one person. Well, he didn't do it himself, but he was a writer, and he wrote dialog that way. - AnnRon, Oct 9, 2015

Another thing they say here...even if you are talking to one person and it's their house, someone will ask, "do they have any milk in the fridge". - rac1, Oct 9, 2015