When I worked at Boeing some years ago, the woman who worked at the next drawing table was from Texas, and she had quite a—what?—accent? Drawl? Anyway, she mentioned that one of her relatives had "three all way-ulls" in his back yard. It took some probing to learn that he had three oil wells in his back yard! She and I got to discussing regional accents and general use of language. Very enlightening. It's not necessarily ignorance or general lack of education.

She pointed out that comedians or actors trying to imitate a Southern accent usually get it all wrong. On the matter of "you all" (or "y'all"), she explained to me that it's not just a regionalism; it communicates something specific. "If I'm having a dinner party and I say 'why don't you come?' I mean 'you.' Just you. But if I say 'why don't y'all come?' I mean 'bring your family.'"

Makes perfect sense to me.

Don Firth