using 'yous' as the plural of you

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I just heard Zara say it to Dani and Jeremy on Hollyoaks.

I have also heard various friends and acquaintances use it. But is it a Good Thing?

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

My old Newfoundlander roommate used to say "ye" as plural for "you." I heard him once on the phone telling his family that "everyone here [Northern Ontario] says 'youse' instead of 'ye'"

― Huk-L, Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I prefer y'all.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

this is just it you see - I have never associated it with a particular class, age or nationality. I have just noticed that some ppl say 'yous' but have never noted whether they belong to any discernable group.

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

you have to spell it YOUSE

― a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

but if it's not standard English, does it matter how I spell it?

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

youse < yins < y'all < all y'all

― Brian Miller (Brian Miller), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

y'ums

― Huk-L, Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

In parts of Jersey, it's "yiz."

― Je4nne ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:21 (twenty-one years ago)

youse/yiz > y'all. it's cute.

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a northeastern thing here in the US

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

you lot

― Teh HoBB (the pirate king), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

youse is originally a Scouser word but since learning it I use it all the time. It can only be a good thing, so classic.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

you'uns

― a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:45 (twenty-one years ago)

alternatively, "yinz"

― a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

i generally say 'youse guys.' the 'guys' is a must.

― matlewis, Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

youse is originally a Scouser word but since learning it I use it all the time. It can only be a good thing, so classic.

A friend of mine said it all the time when we were kids, and he was from East Ham.

― Teh HoBB (the pirate king), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I use "y'all" to subvert the predominant usage of "youse" amongst my Italian-American peeps. Or because I am square like Tic Tac Toe.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:51 (twenty-one years ago)

y'all is better. and i'm as yankee as they come.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's pretty region-free in the US, actually -- you can balance your northeast Italian-style youse with "your" southwest Latino-style "yous guys." I grew up thinking of this as a prime southwestern linguistic feature (right up there with "eeeeee" and "malpyou" and white people knowing what "cholo" means), but it's pretty much everywhere, in one form or another. English is a bit strange in not having a plural "you" -- it seems like just about every group coming from a Romance language semi-creates one, along with plenty of people who aren't even working in translation.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Scare-"quote" typos make "that" first sentence "read" wrong.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"Nice" "job".

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

There is a certain population in St. Louis that says 'yous' (not 'youse,' it's shorter than that)--I have never heard this anywhere else in the region. It seems to be more predominant in German-Americans??

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

english used to have a plural for "you" (which MIGHT have been "you" -- "thee" may have been the singular "you," once upon a time).

german has a plural "you."

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Where I'm from it's mostly "youze," but not "youze guys," with the occasional "you'uns" from the Pittsburgh area.. This would be Appalachia near the WV panhandle. I don't really know where it comes from, but there aren't many Italian-Americans, it's closer to Pennsylvania Dutch country.

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't really get yins/yinz.

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I guess it's "you ones" -> "you'uns" -> "yins/yinz" then? Sounds really weird, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say this.

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

In reality, I'm more likely to say 'you guys' than 'y'all' and I would never use 'youse' as it would sound very affected coming from me.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Huk already beat me to the Newfie story, so I'll just ask is "I's" wrong?
e.g.
I's da by dat builds da boat,
and I's da by dat sails 'er,
I's da by dat catches the fish
and brings dem home to Lizer

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

There was a certain redundancy to the southwestern "youz guys" that always kind of confused me. I think the "guys" was kind of a beard for the non-standard "youz," you know?

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I notice alot of people saying 'mines' instead of 'my' these days too.

― Actor Sizemore fails drug test with fake penis (jingleberries), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

A lot of people also seem to think that substituting "myself" for "I" or "me" makes them sound urbane and intelligent. I'm growing increasingly irritated with this.

Same goes for this depressing habit of working-class people picking up on police terminology (most notably "vehicle" and "female") as a way to sound smart and official; apparently the "oppressor's language" ain't just for poets. I'm still waiting for the moment I hear someone say "You trippin', that's just negligent."

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Clarification: the former bugs me. The latter depresses me, cause it's indicitave of whole groups of people's only interactions with authority and mainstream officialdom coming through routine encounters with police.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, yinz and you'uns are straight-up pittsburgh.

and white people knowing what "cholo" means),

who doesn't know what "cholo" means??

― a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know what cholo means. But then I am a thicko Brit.

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)

okay, what AMERICAN doesn't know what "cholo" means?

― a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 19:52 (twenty-one years ago)

the people i know that say yins typically have some southernish connections. virginia comes to mind. i could definitely see w. virginia and ohio and parts of penn maybe sharing that word.

but hey, people move around so much...

i like yous/youse... but i'd only say it in quote mode...
m.

― msp (mspa), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno. My first year in college, in Chicago, I was standing in line to register, and this guy behind me was picking on his friend: "Survey of Contemporary Astronomy? Introduction to Life Sciences? What's up, why are you taking all these cholo classes?" I started cracking up, but nobody else with me knew what it meant. "Vato," either.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

the people i know that say yins typically have some southernish connections. virginia comes to mind. i could definitely see w. virginia and ohio and parts of penn maybe sharing that word.

they don't call it pennsyltucky for nuthin! anyway fwiw pittsburgh is a VERY midwestern city.

― a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i never realised all youse said it too!

its an aussie thing.

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 23:04 (twenty-one years ago)

vosotros

― Tannenbaum Schmidt (Nik), Wednesday, 25 May 2005 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I had a bet with my old English teacher that "youse" would be standard English within 20 years. I am so totally winning this bet!

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 26 May 2005 01:28 (twenty-one years ago)

now we have to work on fil-um.

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Thursday, 26 May 2005 01:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Filum is already a word, though, so hijacking it to annoy people who go to see "films" may be more problematic.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 26 May 2005 01:32 (twenty-one years ago)

english used to have a plural for "you" (which MIGHT have been "you" -- "thee" may have been the singular "you," once upon a time).

Thee/thou was informal, ye/you was formal and also used for plural. Sort of like tu/vous in French.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 26 May 2005 01:32 (twenty-one years ago)

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using 'yous' as the plural of you - C or D?