![]() The Atlas Obscura article gives one possible reason the word ended up in the south, saying the ancestors of "y'all" not only include the Scots-Irish " ye aw," but also the West African/Caribbean " you all," whose people "borrowed" it from the English. The New York Times article, Parker said, "ran a piece titled 'Odd Southernisms: A Few Examples of Quaint Sayings in South Carolina' that included the following in its penultimate paragraph: 'You all,' or, as it should be abbreviated, 'y'all,' is one of the most ridiculous of all the Southernisms I can call to mind.'" Parker gave an example from 1886 that described what northerners thought of the word. "Y'all" was being used in the American South as early as the 19 th century. READ MORE: 13 words that mean something completely different in the South Montgomery's suggestion that 'y'all' descends from the Scots-Irish 'ye aw' and not directly from 'you all.' He cites a 1737 letter by a Scots-Irish immigrant in New York as an example: 'Now I beg of ye aw to come our here.'" Parker says the first uses of the word were from England, but it wasn't used in the same way as the Southern "y'all." Instead, the uses were more formal and typically derived from writers of metered rhymes who used the contraction to make words fit the meter.Ĭameron Hunt McNabb described a Scots-Irish version in an article for Salon: "In academic circles, many subscribe to Michael B. He wrote in an article for that the earliest use of "y'all" is now thought to be 1631.Īt that time, the only people living in the United States were Native Americans, which means "y'all" did not originate here. Parker, a history professor at Kennesaw State University. The contraction "y'all" is much older than linguists once thought, says David B. The "Southern Handbook: How to Quit Being Ugly and Act Like Somebody" Kelly Kazek Get the latest from It's a Southern Thing by subscribing to our newsletter, where you'll find the latest videos, stories and merchandise. Among those floating around are "you guys," "youse," "you'uns" and "y'all." Y'all, of course, is the most popular choice because, well, it is clearly the best. How could the colonists have been so careless as to lose our only second-person plural pronoun? Historians can only theorize, but the fact remains that we needed a replacement. "'Thou' and 'ye' is a perfectly fine arrangement of second-person pronouns, and we'd all be better off if they'd stuck around, but they didn't." "By the beginning of the 18th century, "thou" began exiting the language completely," Dan Nosowitz wrote in a 2016 article for Atlas Obscura. For second-person singular, we once had "ye," which became "you." To refer to more than one person, we had "thou," which became … nothing. Early Southerners actually considered the biscuit a delicacy."Ĭlick here for a traditional buttermilk biscuit recipe.įor starters, we have to discuss what became of the word "thou." There likely has been a time when you needed a second-person plural pronoun and realized the English language doesn't have one. "Biscuits were so revered and celebrated in the pre-Civil War South that they were usually reserved for Sundays. Popular across the country, this dish is a particular favorite in the Southern United States, and you'd be hard pressed to find a restaurant where it wasn't on the menu."īefore the Civil War, biscuits were considered doughy treats, according to Southern Living. Gravy was made by adding milk or water to what was left in the pan after cooking meat as a way to stretch the meal, while biscuits could be made from a variety of ingredients that might be on hand.Īccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word " biscuit " comes from the Latin biscotum, which means bread "twice baked." In England, the word "biscuit" refers to a crunchy cookie, while in the U.S., it means a quick rising, soft bread.īiscuits in early America were also crunchy, the Farmers Almanac said: "At first, biscuits were nothing but hard tooth-breaking lumps of flour and water, but eventually they evolved into the light and flaky tender-crumb variety made with baking powder that we enjoy today. Biscuits and gravy answered the need for a hearty, high-calorie breakfast for people who worked hard, but didn't have much money on hand." Born of necessity and frugality, the dish seems to have become commonplace during the Revolutionary War. So where did this combination of deliciousness come from? The Farmers Almanac says, "Biscuits and gravy have been around as long as this country.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |