The example cited by Dr. Levin below is actually the basis for the confusion
for those not bred in the South.  If I were to say to you alone "Why don't
y'all come over
to my house?" a Southerner would understand that it was you and all of your
family (or your department, or whatever, depending on the context) that were
being invited, but it would be easy for someone from outside to
misunderstand, and think that a single person was being address as "y'all."
(and though a *proper* Southerner would never use y'all to one person, we do
have a few "bad apples" who mess up occasionally).  The use of y'all to one
person is one of the two easiest errors to use to distinguish the truly
Southern from the pretenders (the other involves misuse of grits, and
doesn't even bear discussing!)

I haven't ever heard "y'all" used in reference to the Bible or God, except
in the "Cottonpatch" translations of a few of the New Testament books by
Clarence Jordan, who tried to translate not only words but situations.
When, in rural Georgia in the 1960's, Dr. Jordan told, not the story of the
"Good Samaritan," but of the old black sharecropper who stopped to help a
man in need (after the president of the Baptist seminary had passed him by),
he probably got very much the same reaction that Jesus did to the original
parable--makes for a rather interesting read.

I heard a Southern comedian talk about how upset those from the north would
be when they got to heaven and were told "Y'all get in the back of the
pickup with the dogs, and we'll ride up to the big house."

Have a good day.

Claire

-----Original Message-----
From: UTC Staff E-Mail List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Yigal Levin
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2002 12:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] facts about true southerners


Actually, this is not quite correct. Although "y'all" is obviously a
contraction of "you all" and as such is a plural, I have experienced being
addressed as "y'all" in the singular (by Chattanoogans born and bred), when
addressed as the representative of a group, as in "y'all come to dinner"
meaning myself and my family (who were not present).
In my Bible courses, I've used "y'all" as an explanatin of the Hebrew
plural forms "Elohim" and "Adonai", meaning "God" and "Lord" in the
singular. Something like the French "tous".
By the way, is that pronounced "tuze" or "tuzes" in Cajun?

Yigal


At 12:19 PM 6/24/2002 -0400, Lee Harris wrote:
>A previously-posted,forwarded email ("You know you're in...") stated:
>> > YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN THE SOUTH WHEN . . .
>> > - Y'all" is singular and "all Y'all" is plural.
>
>This egregious error was corrected in a message last Friday, posted by
>Claire McCullough:
>>True Southerners never refer to one person as "y'all."
>
>Thank you, Claire, for setting the record straight! Only Yankees, Hollywood
>directors and others who have never lived in the South think for a moment
>that "y'all" is singular. It is a contraction of "you all."
>
>
>Lee Harris
>
>
>*DISCLAIMER: the author of this email message was born in Illinois, raised
>in Tennessee, and spent several years in Texas.  Therefore, he is not
>"Certified Southern" by the Board of Underwriters, Barbecue and Biscuits
>Association (BUBBA).
>
Dr. Yigal Levin
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga TN 37403-2598
U.S.A.