Uneasy Rhetoric

Languagehat links to an ongoing discussion at Metafilter about the growing use of y’all in American English. I’ve posted twice before on the subject. The discussion is interesting because it includes discussion of a variety of regional vernacular making its way into common speech. Unfortunately, some idiots think that there is only one “proper” way to speak English and that anyone who does not speak (or write) in that way is, well, I’ll let the person speak for itself:

Because only stupid people say it [y'all]; and sadly, stupid people know no state boundaries. However, it at least serves as an easy litmus test when first meeting someone; if their vocabulary includes “y’all,” then you can easily and immediately adjust your opinion of their IQ downward.

Is it wrong of me to get a warm sense of superiority over this poster? I need to work on being more humble. I guess those humble Georgian (state of) roots don’t go too deep. I reckon I’ll need to work on that.

Frankly, I find y’all to be extremely useful when I need my audience to understand, explicitly, the plural.