In the minds of many, use of the phrase “you all” has become the defining characteristic of a true Southerner. For at least as long as I can remember, people who are not from the South have run the gamut from playfully teasing Southerners to outright deriding us for saying “you all.”

First, one needs to understand that a proper Southerner does not, as is oft supposed by those not in the know, use the term “you all” to refer to a single individual. “You all” is, quite properly, a term to be used only in the plural. As my seventh grade English teacher, Mrs. Wilkes, taught me, one refers to a single individual as simply “you.” Now, as a proper English teacher, Mrs. Wilkes also taught me the word “you” is also plural. So, when referring to two or more people, one can say “you.” But, it is also correct to use terms such as “you boys go out and play.” In the South, we simply use “all” in the same context, which, of course, results in the phrase “you all go out and play.”

Use of the single word “you,” can be problematic when addressing two or more people. In such a situation, one can never be certain if the speaker is singling out one person from the group and using “you” in the singular or if the speaker is using it in the plural and addressing the whole group. The speaker often overcomes this ambiguity by accompanying “you” with some sort of hand gesture to indicate to which member(s) of the group “you” refers.

Now, suppose one is addressing three blind mice and wishes to use the word “you.” The effectiveness of an accompanying hand gesture becomes pretty much ineffectual. But by saying “You all run up the clock,” the three blind mice readily understand the command refers to the whole group and not just to a single mouse.

Finally, the differing forms of “you all” contribute to the character of the various Southern sub-regions. From the slightly twangy “you all” of my native Kentucky to the more clipped “y’all” of Tennessee and Northern Georgia to the elongated, sweet as syrup version heard in South Carolina this phrase, as much as any single characteristic, serves to identify specific geographic areas. And you simply haven’t lived until you’ve had the delightful pleasure of hearing a native Georgia Peach from Moultrie, Georgia imbue the phrase with enough succulence to sweeten the entire offering at a five-star dessert bar and then draw it out until you feel as though the sheer ecstasy of the sound is going to drive you insane.

So, poke fun at us if you wish, but, in the meantime, “you all” consider the true uniqueness it imparts to the Southern character.