Using y’all is as Southern American as apple pie, sitting on the front porch, or drinking tea from a Mason jar in July.

The use of y’all isn’t uncommon in the South. When several of us played in the front yard, Mom didn’t call each child by name. Mom said, “Y ’all come in the house.”

Some people call it slang, but it’s what Southerners say. For some reason, y’all is considered less proper than the Northern version or you all.

Different regions of the country have their own cultural language or quirky changes or additions to the American-English language.

For a long time, I thought ‘you all’ was the Standard American-English.

But actually, y’all and you all are both regional versions for ‘you.’

Y’all and you all are ingenious. Both prevent me from having to remember and recount names. Even saying ‘you guys’ is better than citing a litany of names.

Who wants to say three words, all of you, when one will do? Just say y’all.

We use contractions all the time. If there’s no big deal about you’re (you are), why make a big deal about y’all? The apostrophe after the ‘y’ replaces the ‘ooo’ sound of O and U. So, the spelling is Y’all.

Beware of the Ya’ll spelling, which is incorrect.

There’s no doubt that the South has a knack about shortening or truncating words. For instance, why say fixing to when you can say finna? The big question is when to use the truncated words.

My rule is when in Rome, do as the Romans. But when at home do as you gonna.

If you’re in a corporate meeting with the CEO, ‘all of you’ may be more appropriate than y’all or you all.

Some people say that using y’all is a Southern trait.

Great Britain’s answer for y’all is ‘you lot.’ Australia uses the word ‘youse.’

I mostly use you all because I’m conscious of my Southern drawl.

Whether you use y’all, you all, all of you, or anything similar is your choice but remember the rule about Rome.

Also, ‘finna’ isn’t proper English.

Stay Safe.