Jesse from Louisville, Kentucky, wonders if the second-person plural pronoun y’all is becoming more popular throughout the United States. A 2000 article in the Journal of English Linguistics finds that y’all and you-all are indeed spreading beyond...
What’s in YOUR spice rack? Say you’re cooking up a pot of chili, and you need to add more of that warm, earthy, powdered spice. Do you reach for a bottle of KOO-min? KYOO-min? Or are you going to add KUMM-in? The pronunciation given in...
If you’re talking to group of people of mixed genders, it’s fine to address them as “You guys.” After all, English lacks a distinctive second-person plural. Still, if the usage offends someone, it’s best to address them...
Chris from Harrisonburg, Virginia, grew up in Pittsburgh saying jaggin around or jagging around for goofing off, teasing, or playing tricks. This classic Pittsburghese term is tied to the old verb jag, “to prick, stab, or jab,” so the teasing sense...
What’s the possessive of y’all? Is it y’all’s? Y’alls? Y’alls’s? What do all ya’ll think?
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game featuring “Tom Swifties,” those sentences that include a self-referentially funny adverb, such this one: “’Ow! You guys really know how to hurt a vampire,’ Tom said _____________.” This is part of a...
