I think it is. At least, it is for Texans. And probably a few other parts of the country, those known as "the South." Except that some Southerners pronounce it as You All. Which I guess is the correct formal way of pronouncing it. But in Texas, and places where Texans live, it's simply Y'all. And it can be used to refer to one person or a group of people. Or animals, at least as far as Bill is concerned because he frequently tells the dogs that "Y'all need to go outside NOW!" Of course, that is usually because they have done something bad and are being sent out and then blocked out.
I don't know why, but the word popped into my head this afternoon and I got to thinking about just how much I use it. Which is quite a bit, actually. But that's ok, it's a good Texasspeak word. I just find it funny when people that aren't Texan or Southerners try to use it. Kind of like the old joke about parents trying to speak to their teenager's friends using slang. Which more often than not is slang that went out of style 30 years before!
The other thing about Y'all is the punctuation. Should there be an apostraphe (sp?) between the Y and the All? I think so, but it's probably one of those things where it doesn't really matter.
We will discuss the word ain't another time. :) And the fact that my boss says I talk funny after I've been Home to Texas, or had company from Texas. I find my Texas accent coming back quite frequently, and I'm always happy about that. I try not to let it go away, but sometimes it does and I'm not aware of it until it comes back or my boss teases me.
One of my other thoughts today is about springtime in Oklahoma. It's not even mid-February yet, and it's in the 70's. Which was nice today, although it was breezy. But it's not really as nice as it sounds. Because we are supposed to get rain storms tonight. Rain storms in late winter/early spring, when it's warmer than normal, in TORNADO ALLEY are not necessarily good things. That's the kind of forecast we could possibly get tonight. Thunderstorms have already started popping up in the western part of the state. So far, they seem to be moving northeast which is normal, but more north than east. I'm not complaining, I live in the NE part of the state and if the storms want to go more north than east, that's fine with me!
I generally spend the first few storms fighting off being nervous. Then after a couple of storms, I'm more used to it and it's not so bad. But since I wasn't raised here (glad to be a Texan!), I have had to adjust. The first year, we were somewhat ignorant. We had no clue what we were in for. We moved to OK on February 28/29 (it was a leap year). It was still pretty cool, we didn't have any snow but we did have some really cold days. I was enjoying spring, it's a pretty part of the country. Then came April 24 of that year. Which was our first experience with that siren and we learned pretty fast what it meant. There was a tornado, which actually hit pretty close to where we were living at the time. We were in an apartment on the east side of the city, and it was within a couple of miles of our apartment where the first strike happened - it took out a church. Which is now and forevermore known as the Tornado Church. We went to that church for a while, it was rebuilt and is beautiful. But it is still known as the Tornado Church and I think it always will be.
Most springs I do ok. But last year, we had so much to deal with and some of it was so close. Too close, in one instance. Like forming over my back yard close. But we are going to think positive here. No bad storms this year!
But I am, as always, prepared. Having had to go through more than one incidence of no electricity, I keep a few days worth of canned food & water on hand. But that does not mean that I want to have to use it!
OK, what's next? Well, I'll think of something.
Oh yeah, food! McDonald's restaurants have their annual Day of Love today. It's a fund-raiser for the Ronald McDonald House. Hamburgers are 59 cents, cheeseburgers are 69 cents. Bill was going to go there for lunch today, but I don't think he actually did. Because he called me shortly before I left work and asked me to go get several of each for us for dinner tonight. Which is probably not on my list of "good" food, OK I know it's not on my list. So I won't overdo it, but I am going to enjoy a hamburger. I also got a couple of orders of french fries, that is a requirement after all! It's all in the fridge, until Bill gets home in a little while. Otter says she doesn't like McD's anymore, but I think she might be able to force herself to eat a few fries. :) Anyway, if anybody reading this has time (it ends at 8:00 p.m.), go to McDonald's. The Ronald McDonald House is a great thing to support. And I don't have to cook tonight.
There is probably more, but I don't know what it is. I'll probably think of it as soon as I post this and sign off!
1 comment:
Yes Y'all(Yall) is a word. It works very well and if the other person is not Texas, it can get some good conversations started. It can also get you laughed at, but that is only by nonTexans. It is funny when non Texans use it. Many times they use it and then look at you to see if it was ok to use it.
You know what Dad always said in the spring-When are you moving back to Texas? He hated Tornado season.
Froggy
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