Sup, y'all = what's up, you all?

[tree123]

California, home to the most gorgeous Emmy voters in the nation. Sup, y'all?

source: orginally from Youtube

Sup, y'all = what's up, you all?

Is this how the American younger people greet to each other?

 

[Rover_KE]

Young people of all nations, I expect, develop their own patois/slang which can change on a weekly basis.

Members with teenage children will comment later on this particular example, which is probably dated by now, as I've been hearing it in films and TV shows for some years now.

 

[GoesStation]

The phrase originated in African-American slang some years ago. Like most slang, it probably had a short life and has long since been superseded.

 

[emsr2d2]

"'Sup/What's up?" has generally been superseded in BrE too. I associate it with the 1990s, particularly with this Budweiser advert. I believe "y'all" is still in very common use in the States.

 

[GoesStation]

Oh yes. Y'all is a second-person plural subject pronoun widely used in southern and African-American English.

 

[Tdol]

I associate it with the 1990s, particularly with this Budweiser advert.

When a corporation adopts slang, the slang generally suffers. Corporations are rarely cool.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In the early 2000s, "Sup" got somewhat shoved aside by "Wuddup." Slangier than "Wuddup, y'all" was "Waddup, yo."

I have no idea what anyone is saying now. I'm like Duke Ellington: Don't get around much anymore.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

source: orginally from Youtube

Sup, y'all = what's up, you all?

Is this how the American younger people greet to each other?

Hi Tree,

I first heard these greetings back in 2007 (during a course of podcasts by a US presenter).

Paul (UK)

 

[GoesStation]

Is this how [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] young American [STRIKE]younger[/STRIKE] people greet [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] each other?

x

 

[probus]

Oh yes. Y'all is a second-person plural subject pronoun widely used in southern and African-American English.

While y'all is usually plural, in the American south it is sometimes singular. This is shown by the fact that it has its own plural form: all y'all":-D My niece who grew up in North Carolina thinks it inappropriate when I, her Canadian uncle, say all y'all.

 

[Skrej]

'Sup' is still commonly used. I work at a community college, and hear it (from students) on a daily basis, along with 'wassup'. It does seem to be almost exclusively male usage, though, now that I think about it.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

'Sup' is still commonly used. I work at a community college, and hear it (from students) on a daily basis, along with 'wassup'. It does seem to be almost exclusively male usage, though, now that I think about it.

Thinking about it, in the podcasts I have heard so far, I have also only ever heard the slang term being used by males!

 

[Tarheel]

While y'all is usually plural, in the American south it is sometimes singular. This is shown by the fact that it has its own plural form: all y'all":-D My niece who grew up in North Carolina thinks it inappropriate when I, her Canadian uncle, say all y'all.

Here in Charlotte I rarely hear a Southern accent. Plenty of Spanish tho.

 

[GoesStation]

While y'all is usually plural, in the American south it is sometimes singular. This is shown by the fact that it has its own plural form: all y'all":-D My niece who grew up in North Carolina thinks it inappropriate when I, her Canadian uncle, say all y'all.

I spent a miserable summer in Galveston, Texas and was once mocked for using "y'all" as a singular. That was a long time ago, though, and usage may have changed.

My understanding was that "all y'all" is the inclusive plural. I'm starting to think that has also changed.

 

[probus]

Thinking about it, in the podcasts I have heard so far, I have also only ever heard the slang term being used by males!

In the late 90s I made a business trip to Philadelphia. Wearing a jacket and tie I entered the motel expecting something like "Good evening" and maybe a "Sir". The black female front desk clerk surprised me with "Yo wussup."

 

[Tdol]

I spent a miserable summer in Galveston, Texas and was once mocked for using "y'all" as a singular.

As a Brit, I had no idea it was considered to be singular anywhere- I had only heard of it as a regional US plural.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

As a Brit, I had no idea it was considered to be singular anywhere- I had only heard of it as a regional US plural.

Same here!

 

[GoesStation]

It sounds weird to my American ears as a singular, too, but I keep reading that some people use it that way. When I did that, I had only recently introduced the term to my vocabulary.

 

[Tdol]

Same here!

It is a hard-to-grasp singular.