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To: mtbopfuyn

““Y’all” and “got”??? “ I believe that’s referred to as pandering.


52 posted on 03/02/2008 12:17:19 PM PST by FReepapalooza (Joshua 3:4 ..."for ye have not passed this way heretofore.")
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To: FReepapalooza
““Y’all” and “got”??? “ I believe that’s referred to as pandering.

It's referred to as colloquial or casual speech. I'm an educated Southerner, more than capable of formal speech and writing in standard American English, but I use constructions like that all the time in casual conversation and writing.

The primary purpose of language is to communicate, and sometimes that means meeting the audience halfway. If that means breaking the rules of formal grammar, then the rules go out the window. Show me any writer who strictly adheres to the formal rules of grammar, and I'll show you Mark Twain.

Compare the effectiveness of the following two statements: "Up with this we will not put" vs. "That dog won't hunt."

One last note: I am a zealous, almost militant, advocate of "y'all." It's a second person plural pronoun, like the French "vous," It's a useful, functional word that formal English lacks. And contrary to its misuse by New York and Hollywood screenwriters (which makes me wince), it is only used as a plural.

72 posted on 03/02/2008 1:17:35 PM PST by ReignOfError
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