Quote:
Originally Posted by epchick
I've always heard that there is a difference between "y'all" and "ya'll." That southerners say "y'all" and everyone else says "ya'll"
I dont know which one i say, lol. I'm not sure if i quite understand the difference.
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Here's the thing...
The rule about apostrophes, is that they EITHER replace letters OR show possession. That's it...no other function. (Technially, when we write "The ASA
's did this that and the other.", it is incorrect. I'll be the first to admit that I break that rule a lot.) Since "y'all" is not possessive, then it has to be the omitting letters rule. "Y'all" is a contraction of "you all". The letters being left out are "ou", and therefore the apostrophe goes between the y and the a, and the difference between y'all and ya'll is those who know the proper usage of the apostrophe, and those who do not.
OMG...I need to go back to bed...I just wrote a dissertation on the proper gramatics of "y'all".
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