Y'all or You guys? (Arlington, Grand Prairie: stats, licensed, nicest)

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Well, just an FYI for everyone. Just because you say "Y'all" or have an accent doesnt mean you're a southerner. EVERYONE says "Y'all", even some New Yorkers I've ran into. It's actually pretty common.

With all due respect to everyone, I just have to say this. I think a lot of Texans fancy themselves as southerners & its not really accurate, at least in the traditional sense.

Anyone who has grown up in the deep south (TN, NC, SC, GA AL, MS, & parts of Northern FL) knows what a southerner is & what southern hospitality is. Also the mindset of the people is way different, the dialect, the history, architecture, etc.

Saying that Texans = Southerners is just not accurate. Not even for parts of it. Maybe MAYBE parts of Houston are "southern-like", but still not full on by any means. There's just too many other influences in the state overall.

Just saying, there's a lot that Texans can claim fame to or be proud of, being southern or claiming southern roots just isn't one of them.

Well....I very much agree with this, except that I would say that East Texas is much more what I would consider "Southern" in terms of culture than the rest of the state is.

And so the argument begins again....

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Well....I very much agree with this, except that I would say that East Texas is much more what I would consider "Southern" in terms of culture than the rest of the state is.

And so the argument begins again....

LOL Maybe it will just die again, since we have all long since agreed to just disagree!

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

No disrespect taken. Texans are proud to be Texans. But the regional affiliation has been endlessly debated on many other threads, and we have just agreed to disagree. I firmly maintain Texas is essentially a Southern state -- not typical, but essentially -- in terms of history and culture.

But then again, there are other threads for this topic. The South has always been a diverse region. I know some in the Deep South who exclude all but three or four states from "the South" (and that includes Tennessee, North Carolina, and even Louisiana and others sometime) because they do not fit that "moonlight and magnolia's image" (or for whatever reasons). But this image is a very narrow, albeit quite common and extensive, "standard." Too, living in -- or even being from -- a Deep South state does not make one an expert on Southern culture or history (not claiming that I am, just saying). Experience and personal perspective count for a lot of course, but there are objective factors as well when it comes to the area of regional studes.

Anyway, so far as Texas goes, just as a sampler plate, the history of the Confederacy (of which Texas was one of the original charter members) voting patterns (Solid South democratic for many years), religion (Southern Baptist church domination), settlement patterns (majority settlement by Southeasterns), speech patters (most Texans speak one of many varieties of Southern American English), etc, all go into the definition of a region, which is why, IMO, Texas is primarily linked to the South in terms of basic regional affiliation. As noted, proudly independent and different to be sure, but basically Southern in the main ways when it comes to a regional grouping.

But as may be, again, this is just one that many of us here agree to just leave on the back burner, so often has it been discussed and debated. It is a question that will never get fully settled anyway.

I agree with most of this. I think texas is more "southern affiliated" than full on southern. Like I said, there are just too many other influences & I think its got its own thing going.

[scubashawn68]

Originally Posted by edubya

"Proper" is a misnomer in this case. We're talking about formal and informal speech or writing. The modern descriptivist trend in English grammar would call a colloquialism like "y'all" perfectly proper, though perhaps not very welcome in a formal medium.

In any case, English is a living language, and it evolves over the years according the whims of its speakers. Many people have a linguistic pet peeve about which they harp to all who will listen, but pretentiousness is often the captain of that ship.

Are you saying that you think I am pretentious ?
LOL

[wannabeaTexan]

I was born and raised in the Seattle area (born in Bellevue, raised in various places in WA). My dad is from TX and OK...I say y'all alot, I think because I've heard him say it forever. I also say "you guys" though. I've lived in TX for about a month now, and I've noticed that I still say y'all as much as I used to around here, but I use "you guys" alot...especially in emails...to folks in Seattle. I feel like they're not going to remember that I said "y'all" when I lived there, and I'm just trying to be a Texan now that I live here. I also feel dumb saying "you guys" here for some reason on one hand, but on the other, I feel like I need to explain that I used it even when I lived in Seattle and it's because of my dad, just so I don't feel like a poser.

At any rate, I voted Non-Native Texan...say "y'all".

[edubya]

Originally Posted by scubashawn68

Are you saying that you think I am pretentious ?
LOL

"I live in the English speaking country of the USA so I do not us the term"Y'all". I speak proper English like I was taught at home and at school.Most educated people speak proper English."

". . . out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

[scubashawn68]

Originally Posted by edubya

"I live in the English speaking country of the USA so I do not us the term"Y'all". I speak proper English like I was taught at home and at school.Most educated people speak proper English."

". . . out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Then I guess I am. End of the story.

[blueskies49]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

I was really curious as to if native Texans who live in truly large cities (like the niece I mentioned in the op) who had grown up saying y'all do, over time, adopt the idiom of non-Texas/Southern migrants just by default of sheer numbers! LOL Like the neice I mentioed as example. She sure didn't grow up saying "you guys", and neither did her husband (a West Texas native), but their years of going from one large city to the next (DFW and now Austin) has definitely affected the accent and idiom to some degree.

TR, that would be my daughter, for sure!! She grew up in Arlington and Grand Prairie saying "y'all" her whole life. Never once heard her say "you guys" (she is now 29 years old) up until about 3 years ago when she was pregnant with her first child. It began to pop out here and there. One day I was curious and asked her where she picked it up from. She said she didn't know? Well, now it's not just "here and there", it's more often than not!! Nowadays her "y'alls" are few and far between!

[lonestar2007]

Hi Blueskies, it's good to hear from you, seems like it's been awhile.

[blueskies49]

Hi lonestar! Thanks! Yes, it has but it's good to be back amongst online friends.