Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
In British English, if you were talking to a group of people, the "default" use of "you" would be understood to be referring to the group. If you wanted to address one particular person, you'd use their name.
Eg,
"Where are you from?" to mean the group.
"Where are you from, John?" to refer to one person.
Of course people just do this automatically; nobody stops to think about it. I'm sure the "you all" thing in the Southern US is the same in that respect.
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What if I want to address a singular and don't know their name? Hence the Southern American decision to treat "you" as singular and come up with a new term for the plural.
There is a vast degree of difference in my cultural between "Where do you want to go to eat?" and "Where do ya'll want to go to eat?" Insisting that English can't or shouldn't or doesn't evolve to accommodate cultural differences or insisting that there are other ways to frame the same question is a way of marginalizing another's culture in favor of your preferred culture.
Not that I'm saying you (singular) have done that. But some people do and have and it's a rather tired form of trying to be superior simply by being different.
