The Irish make use of that additional 'e' on Bill East's keyboard.
'How are youse', they say
Steve Rouse
(Qualified to comment by reason of an Irish Grandmother)
At 10:14 07/02/00 -0800, you wrote:
>Just a quick comment on this third person plural
>thing.
>I grew up in Cumbria where it was common usage to
>address a group as "yous", for example when asking the
>health of more than one person, one could ask "how are
>yous?".
>
>Has anyone else ever come across this of is it
>restricted to us (English) northerners.
>
>Jim
>--- Bill East <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> > Likewise, in California, one young woman in a
>> group of same will
>> > address
>> > the others as "you guys".
>>
>> The usage spreads far beyond California. When
>> seated in a restaurant
>> in New Hampshire with my wife and mother-in-law, I
>> have been asked,
>> "Are you guys ready to order?"
>>
>> I have sometimes wondered how Americans understand
>> Ko-Ko's reference in
>> 'The Mikado' to 'The Lady from the promises, who
>> dresses like a guy'.
>> For Gilbert, as an Englishman, a 'guy' is an effigy
>> of Guy Fawkes of
>> gunpowder plot fame, burnt every year on 5th
>> November in an outpouring
>> of anti-papal frenzy; hence, someone dressed like a
>> stuffed dummy in
>> outrageous, tasteless or over-the-top clothes.
>> Would it be supposed in
>> Americaland that Gilbert was referring to a
>> transvestite?
>>
>> Elasticus.
>>
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>
>=====
>All that is gold does not glitter, : Jim Connolly
>not all those who wander are lost; : 2 Craighall Ave
>The old that is strong does not wither, : Levenshulme
>Deep roots are not reached by frost. : Manc. M19 2BR
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Steve Rouse
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