Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 23:36:07 -0500

From: Dan Goodman goodman[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FREENET.MSP.MN.US

Subject: singular "we"



Wed, 8 May 1996 05:31:17 -0500

Natalie Maynor maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU

Re: singular "we"



I wonder if this is found elsewhere in the Upper Midwest?



I thought singular "we" as in "we'll see you" was pretty common

throughout the U.S. I've heard it compared with the use of "y'all"

in set expressions like "y'all come back" when said to just one

person. I think maybe Michael Montgomery has made such a comparison

in one of his articles on "y'all."

--Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)

I don't remember encountering it in other places I've lived: Ulster

County NY, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Did I miss it,

or have I managed (till moving to MPLS) to live in the only parts of

the US where this isn't common?



Meanwhile, elsewhere, a former and a current resident of Brooklyn are

discussing whether Brooklynites use "youse" as a singular.



Dan Goodman