Hi world. It’s me, your favorite super sheltered, extremely Scandinavian, strangely endearing pile of soggy, tomato-drenched crinkly noodles!
Otherwise known as Baby Swedish Lasagna under an Inadequate Tent.
The reason I bring up my origins is this:
I grew up without hearing anyone say “y’all”. I believe the contraction never crossed my path outside of a book until middle school, when it became trendy among my equally sheltered, pale-skinned friends.
I started saying it often, with little understanding of its pronunciation, spelling, or proper usage.
At some point, perhaps in a fit of cultural sensitivity, maybe after the madness of middle school had seeped out of my neurons, I stopped using it.
Except in emails.
Yes, my friends, I am an email y’aller. It just works for the already-awkward group conversations. There’s honestly no equivalent in northern dialect. Check it out.
“You guys.” Offensive to feminists.
“You girls.” Offensive to mature women.
“You ladies.” Offensive to men.
“You people.” Offensive.
“Everyone.” Really? Everyone??
“All of you.” Obviously.
“You all.” That ou is harder to type than the ‘ in “y’all.”
Therefore, my frequent usage of y’all in emails. Until today, when I casually checked my spelling before pressing “send.” Something look awry.
Something was awry.
There’s no way to cushion the fact that I have been spelling “y’all” incorrectly for the past ten years, undoubtedly to the unspoken, shared condemnation of my friends.
This may also explain why I’ve always silently pronounced it “yah aaall!”, and then cringed at the yard signs that say “It’s fall, y’all.”
Turns out, the yard signs knew something I didn’t.
That’s tough to admit, but it’s a load of my shoulders. Thanks for listening. Ya’ll.
Otherwise known as Baby Swedish Lasagna under an Inadequate Tent.
The reason I bring up my origins is this:
I grew up without hearing anyone say “y’all”. I believe the contraction never crossed my path outside of a book until middle school, when it became trendy among my equally sheltered, pale-skinned friends.
I started saying it often, with little understanding of its pronunciation, spelling, or proper usage.
At some point, perhaps in a fit of cultural sensitivity, maybe after the madness of middle school had seeped out of my neurons, I stopped using it.
Except in emails.
Yes, my friends, I am an email y’aller. It just works for the already-awkward group conversations. There’s honestly no equivalent in northern dialect. Check it out.
“You guys.” Offensive to feminists.
“You girls.” Offensive to mature women.
“You ladies.” Offensive to men.
“You people.” Offensive.
“Everyone.” Really? Everyone??
“All of you.” Obviously.
“You all.” That ou is harder to type than the ‘ in “y’all.”
Therefore, my frequent usage of y’all in emails. Until today, when I casually checked my spelling before pressing “send.” Something look awry.
Something was awry.
There’s no way to cushion the fact that I have been spelling “y’all” incorrectly for the past ten years, undoubtedly to the unspoken, shared condemnation of my friends.
This may also explain why I’ve always silently pronounced it “yah aaall!”, and then cringed at the yard signs that say “It’s fall, y’all.”
Turns out, the yard signs knew something I didn’t.
That’s tough to admit, but it’s a load of my shoulders. Thanks for listening. Ya’ll.
Even worse: Ya'll is singular. All Ya'll is plural :)
ReplyDeleteThe rules of English that your parents (ahem) never taught you.
Those are spelled exactly the same. My confusion deepens. Also, I find it weird that a random internet person feels so comfortable dissing my parents. Ahem.
ReplyDeleteMy mistake, "All Ya'll" is plural. Said the random internet person who stumbled across this blog after reading 300 different internet pages of lasagna recipes before finding this unique link (not really - that would be too much lasagna).
ReplyDeleteI purposely set that trap. If you like lasagna enough to find this blog, you’re probably weird enough to enjoy it.
ReplyDelete