Seattleites have strong feelings about language quirks — and few words get a more passionate response than “y’all.”
The big picture: Some scholars and linguists have advocated for the broader adoption of “y’all” beyond the South as an inclusive and gender-neutral plural pronoun, arguing that language evolves and it’s a great way to address groups.
- Many locals are having none of that.
State of play: So well-known is the Emerald City’s bias against PNW outsiders that a 2019 guest column in The Seattle Times by a woman who said she was plotting her escape from the city after discerning that her Colorado cowboy culture had been deemed “redneck and racist” garnered more than 500 comments, many of them sympathetic.
What they’re saying: Many readers who responded to our question about the word “y’all” said it just didn’t sit right with them.
- “Sorry but ‘y’all’ gives me a knot in my stomach when I hear it up here, away from its birthplace,” Jennie Wilson told us. “It definitely doesn’t belong in the glorious PNW. Just don’t!”
- Julie Sawin shared her feelings in a poem: “When I see it in writing, I do not find it biting, but when I hear its drawn-out drawl, it can make my skin briefly crawl.”
The other side: Not everyone is a hater, though.
- “‘Y’all’ is an excellent second-person plural pronoun and I advocate for its use highly,” said Kathleen Cooper of Fircrest.
- “It’s an important gender neutral way to say ‘you guys,'” said June Peters.
Between the lines: Quite a few people said they weren’t opposed to “y’all” but didn’t enjoy being called other stereotypical Southern endearments such as “sugar,” “sweetie” or “hun.”…