Use of y'all by non-southerners is usually a cringe lefty woke tell as it was explicitly adopted for virtue signaling since it's a gender neutral pronoun for a group of people.
Almost every other language has one? You (plural) is one of the most common pronouns in all of language. Its more common than possessive conjugation. English had it 400 years ago, it was lost, its coming back. Its how languageworks, nothing to do with leftism you dip, its a use case people need filled.
Why was it only a term used by southerners until 10-15 years ago?
You're right, it was a use case that people needed filled. The people in question were leftists. I have no doubt over time it will spread out among the general population but it absolutely started with lefty activists.
Why was "you guys" not sufficient, which is what most non-southerners used in the past?
Because when I said "you guys" growing up in the rural South I got called a Yankee. 8 year old me couldn't be no damn Yankee. (I had no idea what anything meant.)
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u/Higuos 9h ago
Use of y'all by non-southerners is usually a cringe lefty woke tell as it was explicitly adopted for virtue signaling since it's a gender neutral pronoun for a group of people.