Why Seattle can't agree on "y'all"
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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."
The intrigue: Xavier Barrera said dislike of the word, and an overall contempt for Southern speech, is not uncommon north of the Mason-Dixon line.
- "Disdain for southern accents isn't a Seattle thing. It's a North and West thing. Every place I've lived (Massachusetts, Oregon, California, Iowa, Washington) has some sort of linguistic superiority complex about Southern accents."
- Meanwhile, Jason Pryde said he doesn't appreciate "people that appropriate regional accents."
- "Using a particular term or accent is not honest conversation," Pryde told us. "It hides the speaker's true personality and intent."
Zoom out: Language biases and stereotypes have been documented, with studies showing that Southern accents are often perceived as less intelligent compared to Northern accents — even among children, who develop these attitudes over time despite having no innate bias against particular speech patterns.
The bottom line: While we're at it, there are a few other phrases or terms that locals don't like:
- The word "the" in front of freeway names: It's I-5, not "the 5."
- The possessive "s" with Boeing, Pike Place Market, Fred Meyer and Nordstrom.
- And please, no matter how much older we are than you, don't ever call us "sir" or "ma'am."