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December 1, 2003 NPR Dear Mr. Simon, I nearly wrecked the car on Saturday, November 29, 2003, when I flew into a rage after hearing the outrageously incorrect ending to your story on the Texas Twang. I was born and raised in South Carolina, I am fifth generation South Carolinian, and I lived there until I was 27 years old. Those are my qualifications to tell you that your so called expert was absolutely incorrect when he said that y'all can be singular or plural. Unlike other languages that have separate words for the singular and plural of you, there is a defect in the English language in that "you" can be either singular or plural. So southerners being the resourceful people that we are, invented a word to signify the plural of you and that word is y'all which is a contraction of "you all" to indicate that more than one person is being addressed. Just ask yourself how could "you all" refer to one person? It doesn't. You and your guest, well, y'all are just dead wrong. Sorry but y'all is ALWAYS plural. The only people who use "y'all" to refer to one person are Yankees such as yourself who don't know the difference. I have never heard a Southerner use y'all to mean one person. It wouldn't even make any sense. Please don't make a fool of yourself in the future and refer to one person as y'all. It is incorrect and it sounds ridiculous. Sincerely, Michelle Brodie |