"y'all" means second-person plural pronoun — "you all. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
y'all
Second-person plural pronoun — "you all." Quintessentially Southern American English; spreading nationally as a useful gender-neutral plural "you."
Seen in the wild
What tierlist should I make for you all? I'll do almost any tierlist for y'all.
>> Yes. You let the OC black kid. Y'all
>> Yes. You let the OC black kid. Y'all
>> if y'all are not dancing in your rooms
>> Like, okay, I'm I told y'all I was going
Definitions
Second-person plural pronoun — "you all." Quintessentially Southern American English; spreading nationally as a useful gender-neutral plural "you."
“What tierlist should I make for you all? I'll do almost any tierlist for y'all.”
“>> if y'all are not dancing in your rooms”
“>> if y'all are not dancing in your rooms”
"How are y'all doing?"
"y'all" means second-person plural pronoun — "you all. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
"y'all" is informal English meaning second-person plural pronoun — "you all. It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "second-person plural pronoun — "you all" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "y'all" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing. If you are a B2 or C1 learner, it is useful to recognise this word when you hear or read it, but think carefully about whether the situation really calls for it before using it yourself.
“What tierlist should I make for you all? I'll do almost any tierlist for y'all.”
— r/teenagers· May 2026“>> Yes. You let the OC black kid. Y'all”
“>> Yes. You let the OC black kid. Y'all”
“>> if y'all are not dancing in your rooms”
“>> Like, okay, I'm I told y'all I was going”
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“>> Like, okay, I'm I told y'all I was going”
“>> if y'all are not dancing in your rooms”
Comments
Show 2 more dictionary-style senses (imported)
The group spoken or written to.
Comments
To use the pronoun "y'all" (to).
Comments
For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
- y'allself72%
AAVE second-person plural reflexive pronoun meaning 'yourselves' — a natural extension of 'y'all' into reflexive territory. It fills a grammatical gap that standard English handles awkwardly ('yourselves' feels stiff; 'y'allself' flows). You'll hear it in everyday Southern and Black American speech: 'make y'allself at home,' 'help y'allself to some food.' It's intuitive, grammatically logical within the AAVE system, and captures the warmth of Southern hospitality speech perfectly. Social media has given it wider visibility beyond regional use.
- y'allself68%
(AAVE) Yourselves.
- you gals63%
(idiomatic, colloquial, chiefly, North America, Australia, NZ) You (plural).