When Did “Y’all” Become Uniquely Texan? I’ve Got Bad News.

Every time someone, because of their employment (no one honestly sits around thinking about this stuff), decides to make a list of uniquely Texan phrases, they always choose the same stuff. There will be some variations, but one word you can bet your last dollar on showing up is the iconic piece of southern verbiage...y'all.

Is y'all a "Texan thing," or is our Texan pride running wild again?

The first time y'all was ever seen in print, and this is insane, was supposedly in 1631. In England. It was used in a play way before the Lone Star State was even a sparkle in its momma's eye.

Others maintain that the origin of the word can be traced back to the Scotts-Irish phrase "ye aw." This is supposedly traced back to the 1700s and was found in a letter written by a Scottish man to his family.

The belief is that over time, of course, the word changed from "ye aw" to "y'all."

By the way, it's "y'all." It's not "ya'll." Just a little helpful tip for when you're arguing on Facebook about something completely meaningless and you don't want to look like a completely uneducated buffoon.

It's interesting to me that so many of those "talk like a Texan" lists have the word y'all listed. It's not uniquely Texan. It's spoken all over the South. Why is that word the big go-to word?

If you want to talk like a Texan, practice saying "Bless your heart." You need to get to the point where you can say it with a smile while still making someone feel like they're two inches tall. Once you master that, I'm pretty sure you can claim to talk like a Texan.