John McWhorter

It's like it had a disease, yeah. Thou is the one we miss. We need thou. We need thou. We need it back right now. But we can't do it.

Well, if you think about it, if you're going from English to almost any language you're likely to learn, Notice the first thing you learn is that there's something like du, and then there's some plural form. You never learn that the word for you is the same both in the singular, if there's a chart in front of you, the singular and the plural. That's not how languages work.

Well, if you think about it, if you're going from English to almost any language you're likely to learn, Notice the first thing you learn is that there's something like du, and then there's some plural form. You never learn that the word for you is the same both in the singular, if there's a chart in front of you, the singular and the plural. That's not how languages work.

And so all over Europe, this is preserved. This difference is preserved. There are different spheres of influence that it has in different languages and at different times. But if it's Russian, it's supposed to be du and vi. You don't have vi used for everything. You don't have vi used for everything. English is different in that way. English is a very odd language in certain corners of its being.

And so all over Europe, this is preserved. This difference is preserved. There are different spheres of influence that it has in different languages and at different times. But if it's Russian, it's supposed to be du and vi. You don't have vi used for everything. You don't have vi used for everything. English is different in that way. English is a very odd language in certain corners of its being.

And to tell the truth, it's obscure. We need a singular versus a plural form, and we try to create a plural form by saying y'all or yous or yins. And we're told that that's just funny. It's just slang. It smells like fish or bubble gum or marijuana. It's not a real word. And yet all we're trying to do is be a normal language.

And to tell the truth, it's obscure. We need a singular versus a plural form, and we try to create a plural form by saying y'all or yous or yins. And we're told that that's just funny. It's just slang. It smells like fish or bubble gum or marijuana. It's not a real word. And yet all we're trying to do is be a normal language.

Take a stand. I'd like to see thou come back. I think we need thou. There was nothing wrong with it. It's just like German du. We need thou. The problem is that thou sounds antique. Thou sounds like somebody in a periwig who's about to die of yellow fever because it's so far back. But if we bring in you, then we have to accept y'all as legitimate. Or yous. Or you guys. Or yous.

Take a stand. I'd like to see thou come back. I think we need thou. There was nothing wrong with it. It's just like German du. We need thou. The problem is that thou sounds antique. Thou sounds like somebody in a periwig who's about to die of yellow fever because it's so far back. But if we bring in you, then we have to accept y'all as legitimate. Or yous. Or you guys. Or yous.

And that's really tough, too, because of the aforesaid odors of those words.

And that's really tough, too, because of the aforesaid odors of those words.

Thou is great for art. Yeah. Art thou. But it would be hard to use out on the street. Do I say it in the book? No, that was about something else. You could not say thou naked. You know, it wouldn't seem quite right.

Thou is great for art. Yeah. Art thou. But it would be hard to use out on the street. Do I say it in the book? No, that was about something else. You could not say thou naked. You know, it wouldn't seem quite right.

If I were the Tsar? Like if I could do an executive order, yeah. I would, you would be in the singular, and I would enforce that you all was more widely accepted. I would say that the Wall Street Journal has to start allowing you all, and it has to start being taught in school with a teacher with a stick at a blackboard. That's the way I would do it.

If I were the Tsar? Like if I could do an executive order, yeah. I would, you would be in the singular, and I would enforce that you all was more widely accepted. I would say that the Wall Street Journal has to start allowing you all, and it has to start being taught in school with a teacher with a stick at a blackboard. That's the way I would do it.

Already when I teach about language, I say it's going to be I, you, he, she, it, We, y'all, they. I always say that because you need a y'all in that sense.

Already when I teach about language, I say it's going to be I, you, he, she, it, We, y'all, they. I always say that because you need a y'all in that sense.

Yeah, because they don't use it to mean the singular. But when they say, it's one person, you're at a 7-Eleven, and somebody says, y'all come back, that doesn't mean y'all that one person right there. It's implying that there's somebody out there in the car or something, which is the following. It's a politeness strategy.

Yeah, because they don't use it to mean the singular. But when they say, it's one person, you're at a 7-Eleven, and somebody says, y'all come back, that doesn't mean y'all that one person right there. It's implying that there's somebody out there in the car or something, which is the following. It's a politeness strategy.

So with du and vous, you can address a single person as vous, as if they're two people, and so you're not hitting the person like this. If you say y'all come back now, you're kind of saying vous come back now. You're taking away the directness to say you, you one individual, I hope you come back and buy another Slim Jim. It's a little direct as opposed to y'all come back.