This plural for you is common throughout rural Ontario and is especially
marked in eastern Ontario, where the Scots-Irish (i.e., Ulsterman) presence
is highest. I have heard it referred to as a calque of the Erse second
person plural, but that seems an unnecessarily complex explanation. In my
years in Tucson, I often heard you-all (NOT y'all) for the second person
plural--even from educated people--so the need for such a pronoun distinct
from "you" seems to be quite widespread.
At 14:50 07/02/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>
>In rural Ontario, especially the northern parts of Southern Ontario
>(like the Bruce, eh?), it is common to hear 'yous' in as a 2nd p pl
>address, as in 'What would yous like today?' in a coffee shop. I'm not
>surprised that it's a North British usage, given the place names of
>Southern Ontario.... Sorry to be off-topic!
>
>Abigail
>
>On Mon, 7 Feb 2000, James Connolly 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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>
>Abigail Ann Young (Dr), Associate Editor/ Records of Early English Drama/
>Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W/ Toronto Ontario Canada
>Phone (416) 585-4504/ FAX (416) 585-4594/ [log in to unmask]
>List-owner of REED-L <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html>
>http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page
>http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre resource page
>http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~young => my home page
>
>
Andrew Colin Gow, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
Adjunct Professor and Associate Co-ordinator,
Religious Studies
Address:
Department of History and Classics
2-28 Tory Bldg.
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4
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