# Use of the word "all" **URL:** \ **Category:** Archive - Specifications Discussions #3\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637 "2006-10-25T23:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lynn\_javoroski](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex047/user_avatar/forum.4specs.com/lynn_javoroski/32/188_2.png) [@lynn\_javoroski](https://forum.4specs.com/u/lynn_javoroski)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/21 "2006-10-27T21:24:19Z")
I thought it was P.T. Barnum… ---
**Author:** ![specman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex047/user_avatar/forum.4specs.com/specman/32/222_2.png) [@specman](https://forum.4specs.com/u/specman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/22 "2006-10-27T21:26:08Z")
I believe his famous quote is, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Anonymous](https://forum.4specs.com/u/Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/23 "2006-10-30T13:48:16Z")
I thought “all” is what they put in cars. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Anonymous](https://forum.4specs.com/u/Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/24 "2006-10-30T17:06:07Z")
No. They put “erl” in cars. ---
**Author:** ![lynn\_javoroski](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex047/user_avatar/forum.4specs.com/lynn_javoroski/32/188_2.png) [@lynn\_javoroski](https://forum.4specs.com/u/lynn_javoroski)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/25 "2006-11-06T20:20:32Z")
When speaking to a group, y’all is general (I know y’all)as in that group of people is familiar to you and you know them as a whole, whereas all y’all is much more specific and means you know each and every person in that group, not as a whole, but individually (“I know all y’all.”) Y’all can also be used with the standard “'s” possessive. Y’all is distinctly separate from the singular ‘you’. The statement, “I gave y’all my payment last week,” is more precise than “I gave ‘you’ my payment last week.” ‘You’ (if interpreted as singular) could imply the payment was given directly to the person being spoken to when that may not be the case. The [Chattanoogan.com](http://Chattanoogan.com); Patricia’s Porch Talk: In Plain, Southern English by Patricia Paris (an exerpt) posted October 2, 2006 ---
**Author:** ![bwoodburn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@bwoodburn](https://forum.4specs.com/u/bwoodburn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/26 "2006-11-06T21:18:12Z")
Lynn, thanks for an “institutional” confirmation of the understanding I related above. What this adds that I didn’t mention is that “y’all” can refer to an “impersonal” entity including more than one person (such as a company, in this example). Though company is singular, it includes more than one person–an implied plural, like a collective noun. The second citation is a good example that “all y’all” is used for emphasis (“each and every person in that group…individually”). ---
**Author:** ![keener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/35a633/32.png) [@keener](https://forum.4specs.com/u/keener)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637/27 "2006-11-06T21:21:49Z")
i dunno what all’a yinz’re all talkin about. an’nat. [Previous page](https://forum.4specs.com/t/use-of-the-word-all/637.md?page=1)