So, is the use of...

[kenobi65]

Oh, I wouldn't feel *too* self-conscious, Crystal. Chicago's got it's own accent, which can get pretty thick.

The classic example is in the "Superfans" sketches from Saturday Night Live in the late '80s. "Da Bearss...Da Bullss..."

(And, this is coming from a guy who grew up in Green Bay, which has yet another occasionally-inpenetrable accent. "Oh, cri-hey, dem Packers is playin' like a buncha ol' wimmin. Now, trow me tree beers once, ya der hey.")

 

[crystal]

lol, easy for you to say, after I said somethin, averyone from there started asking me to say sertan frazes, and callin me Texas...I went into a tattoo place with a guy friend. we were lookin at gettin him one and the artist came up to me and asked if there was somethin special I wanted. I showed him a tat I liked and he told me he would give it to me for free if I sat and talked for a while. Something about he liked my accent...needless to say I refused

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

LOL. IMO, no accent in the US is more confusing than a Boston accent (and some others from points north in New England). Certain New Yorkers (including one of my wife's best friends) come in a close second. Southerners aren't even close to hard to understand in comparison.

I'm ignoring Cajun/Creole speakers here. They don't speak American English with an accent; they speak a foreign language that is occasionally understandable to English speakers

 

[kenobi65]

Something about he liked my accent...needless to say I refused

Let's just say that it's not uncommon for Northern guys to find a Southern / Texan accent on a woman to be hot.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I'm not from the American South. My understanding of "y'all" comes from living in New York City, Upper West Side/almost Harlem and my encounters on the basketball courts around there.

"Y'all" is singular.
"All y'all" is plural.

That said, I bow to Bullgrit's wisdom in this matter--he even quoted Lewis Grizzard.

 

[Thunderfoot]

rotflmao, This is so funny. I am from Texas, and I have a heavy accent. I never knew it till I was in Chicago a few years back...I opened my mouth, and every one shut up and stared at me...so emberrasin....I actualy heard my self for the first time...Though I know nuthin bout spellin words, I do know how we say them....well I say them all.....lol....

As a Southern Illinoisan I have a story to pass on...

Yes I am from Illinois (originally) , but was so far down South that depending on which direction I traveled, I could end up in Kentucky, Tennesse or Arkansas, within about 45 minutes. So yes, I use (or more precisely we all use) y'all. My Stepdad was an insurance salesman and had a statewide convention in Chicago. Of course, the Polish influenced speech (as popularized by the 'Superfan' sketch on SNL), was in abundance and the regining topic - how funny it was that "y'all are up here - hahahaha".

My mother being the gentle lady she is (rolleyes), said "Last I checked, y'all was the contracted form of you all, meaning everybody. Frankly, I have no idea what Youse Guys means." Needless to say, that shut them up for a while.

 

[Glyfair]

Here in Delaware we are a mix of "Northern" & "Southern" (we are one of the border states). In the northern part of the state (where most of the population is) there isn't a southern accent at all.

However, I learned "y'all" in school in my foreign language classes. The teachers needed a way to differentiate between the singular and plural "you" so used "y'all" as the plural.

 

[Thunderfoot]

<snip.
"All y'all" is plural.
<snip.

Are you LOOKING to get shot?

 

[Stormborn]

Bullgrit, as others have said, is correct. My accent waxes and wanes in proportion to my proximety to certain members of my family. A master's degree and nearlly 2 years in Kiev, Ukraine filed most of the rough edges off of it, but some words from my childhood crop up. My wife, OTOH, was raised by a British Mother and a Mississippi Father in Huntsville, Alabama (which, for those of you who do not know, is a little piece of everywhere else in America that they crammed into Alabama) so her accent, dialect, and vocabulary are peppered with lots of interesting things, including a great slew of made up words that noone who didnt grow up in their house know.

And just for the record: regardless of where the Mason-Dixon line is drawn Delaware is NOT a Southern State. At least from the persepective in the Heart of Dixie.

 

[Bayushi Seikuro]

Thought I'd chime in.

Y'all is pretty common where I am - over by Knoxville. I believe the plural here, however, is "y'uns" or "you-uns".

The biggest thing dividing us here, with all the immigrants from the North, East and West (I'm from Michigan originally), is how they pronounce where I live: Maryville.

It's not Mary-ville, like the newcomers say, and it's not Murrvull like the oldtimers say. It's like Maryland... easy nuff.