a philosophy of "Y'all"

the wonderful thing about the uniquely southern colloquium "Y'all" is that it captures the essence of the plural "you" for English speaking Westerners... and does so without the gender-limiting implications of the American vernacular "you guys".

I find the term "Y'all" has the ability to allow both women and men to identify themselves with the it... much like the power of "vous" (French), "אתה" (Hebrew), "εσείς" (Greek), & "ustedes" (Spanish)... whereas "you guys" has the potential of marginalizing the female community from the larger conversation or greeting.

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where did that come from, you may be wondering?!? a while back i decided to reach into my southern roots and reclaim the term "Y'all"... but as of late one of my "pals" has decided to give me a hard time for the mutiple uses of it in an email sent to friends of both the male & female persuasion. hmmphf... how do you like them apples, jimmyZ?!? ;D