1. a person very dear to another; one dearly loved
2. an affectionate or familiar term of address
3. a word used to define ones politeness to a woman in the south
4. a pet name/nickname for somebody you care deeply for
5. (Informal) charming; cute; lovable (this one's my favorite of the definitions!)
I also love y'all. However, my love of y'all will not be confused with "all of y'all" because I hate that. I understand how easy it rolls off the tongue, but it's very very incorrect. Sorry to my Southern friends, because I truly do love y'all, but not all-a-y'all. Also, I try not to use y'all at home because a) my sister would make fun of me, and b) I think most people would probably make fun of me. I tend to use it over facebook chat and while texting. Y'all can mean:
1. contraction for you-all
2. Southern 2nd person plural pronoun. Most concise and easily distinguished. Despite the assurance of some emails that have been passing around, "y'all" is plural. Only an absolute idiot would use it as a singular pronoun.
3. The only way to address two or more people. Y'all sounds a heck of a lot better than youse guys and is more efficient as well. Only say it if you're from the south unless you want to get laughed at because yankees don't know how to pronounce it right. Ya'll is spelled incorrectly and "all y'all" is perfectly legitimate. Never use y'all to refer to one person--it makes things really confusing. (thank you urbandictionary.com user...)
4. Y'all, is a contraction or informal form of the phrase "you all", and is pronounced as one syllable or disyllable
5. The best way to address two or more people. Better than: you guys, youse guys, and you all! (this one is my favorite again!)
Other great Southern words and phrases are: fixin' (I'm still learning about that one), "Bless your heart" (although I believe there are many meanings of that one), hot second (definitely have used that before), ain't, ma'am and sir (this is "Southern" in that it's used a lot more there than it is anywhere else I think...except maybe Navy, where it's a rule so that doesn't even count...).
Have any personal favorites? Anyone else love darlin'? Have any tips to help me out?
xxKatie
P.S.: I picked up The Summer We Read Gatsby today (thanks Dad!) as recommended by Coterie Books, one of my favorite book blogs! I'll let you know how it goes!!
12 comments:
I completely understand! Going to school in Tennessee and coming back to Baltimore, I really missed the "southern ways!"
Also, I left you something on my blog- dont forget to check it out
You need to pick up the Southern Belle Primer... it will define every southern "quirk" and you'll fall even more in love with the southern lifestyle!
Even those of us born and raised here have learned a lot from it!
Another great book is GRITS and I have always had a southern drawl living in GA but now I have an East TN accent and a thick one!
This post was too cute! Even funnier, I use all these world every single day, and I've never thought differently. Bless your heart is also a favorite of mine because you can pretty much say anything mean about someone but as LNG as you say Bless Their Little Heart it's completely forgiveable (ex: she's as dumb as a brick, bless her heart). I also use Fixin' To almost daily. I am originially from a little country town in north carolina and am now living in Arkansas. Until I moved about two or so years ago, I didn't know Fixin' To was a southern thing, until people out here had no clue what I was talking about. I guess it's true what they say... You can take the girl out of the honky tonk but you can't take the honky tonk out of the girl!
Sorry for any typos, my phone's auto correct sucks!
I grew up in Virginia which is pretty divided - some of it is real southern, some of it is more 'northern.' Just going to school in Tennessee is totally different - so southern! I absolutely love it. Even though my family is really southern, I have apparently developed an even more prominent southern drawl. My parents like to tease me. :)
I go to school in the south as well, and I am from the north, where like you, most people that attend my school are also from the south, so everyone says y'all and other southern sayings and I am the one that always feels out of place. While I do love the southern ways of talking, I have promised myself to not pick up the southern accent so I can be "the one with the accent"!
This post made me giggle! I was born and raised in a very SOUTHERN town in Georgia, and both colleges attended/attend were in Georgia - one of which was Georgia SOUTHERN Univeristy. I cannot escape the southern drawl! Even my college cohort friends from Atlanta pick on my accent!
I can't escape my southern ways. But, hey, why would I? I find that the boys love it. :)
And, on another note, I came "clean through" Columbia today and thought about you! (See if you can't figure out the phrase "clean through" - it's my grandmother's favorite!)
My favorite is "pop" versus "soda" ---that's still one of my favorites!!
I never lived in the South, I wish! Someday, I am moving to Charleston, SC. I almost went to the College of Charleston...too bad, my mom had breast cancer and I went to school in michigan instead.
Anyway, I went to boarding school in Virgina for 2 years but that doesn't really count! HA! HA!
haha this post is so cute! I think some of my favorites are "didjaeat" (did you eat) "whachou" (what have you) But mostly i love the fact that in november we can still wearshorts and sandals around campus, dont bother sytling your hair becuase the humidity will ruin it, and i easily break a sweat walking from the BA building to Gambrell!!!
I have always said all of these things my whole life, and I love hearing about them from another point of view.
I can help you out with "fixin" - just subsitute "about" for "fixin" and you will always get it right.
Ex: "I'm fixin' to set the table." means the same as "I'm about to set the table."
Love this post. I grew up in Alabama, but my mother swears my accent got thicker after moving to South Carolina. :)
One annoying one to add to your list.. "Clempson".
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