How Did “Y’All” Start?

Perhaps the most well-known slang terms comes to us via friendly Southerners. The pronoun “y’all,” which is so widely accepted that it appears in the dictionary, is an informal substitute for you or “you all.” But how did it start and reach such widespread acceptance? Recently, New York Times Bestselling author Gary Kinder wrote about the “Story of Y’all” on WordRake (http://www.wordrake.com/writing-tips/the-story-of-yall/). It’s a lighthearted look at the word, Southern culture and grammar. If you’re from the South, you’ll especially enjoy the read, which includes plenty of Southern wisdom. Kinder, who hails from the South, says his Pappy told him that the word evolved from saying “you all”

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