|-----Original Message-----
|From: tclug-list-admin at mn-linux.org
|[mailto:tclug-list-admin at mn-linux.org]On Behalf Of Gabe Turner
|Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 8:01 AM
|To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org
|Subject: Re: [TCLUG] Linux Partitions
|
|
|> 	I personally think "y'all" is a useful linguistic construct, which
|> otherwise is lacking from the English language. the German 'ihr' means
|> roughly the same thing as "y'all", and they use it quite a bit.
|> 	I fail to see why English should lack a good term for "all of you",
|> when other languages have it.
|
|English does have a term for 'all of you': 'you'.  'You' is both plural and
|singular, depending on the context it's used in.  'ihr' auf Englisch is
|'you'.  Just playing the devil's advocate here :)  I personally prefer
|'y'all' as well.  Although, it sounds strange when said out loud, IMO.
|
|Gabe
|--
The problem is that 20th century English dropped the you singular--
thou/thee/thine and kept only the plural "you" for both singular and plural.
If you are really interested, there is a dual version (i.e., two people),
but I can't remember it anymore...check Oxford English Dictionary.  Who said
that 6+ years of graduate study in Ancient Mediterranean languages wasn't
applicable to computers :)

Of course, there is always the Indiana "you'uns" or the Michigan "yous guys"
but generally upper Midwesterners prefer to say "you guys" instead of
"y'all" (which, incidentally, is NOT singular as I was informed when I first
moved to Kentucky)


James Spinti
jspinti at dartdist.com
952-368-3278 x396
fax 952-368-3255