Speaking a different language

[hellziggy]

We all know that there is online language that's not used in real life, like leet-speak and such.

But I'm wondering if any of you have ways of talking online that don't translate to your spoken language in the real world?

For me, it is y'all. I pretty much never use y'all when talking to people. It's just not part of my spoken language. But it is actually fairly common for me to say y'all when I'm writing on LJ. I don't know the reason for this dichotomy, I just found it interesting.

Comments

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

I've found that certain people talk like they write...Most of those people I've found also happen to be women...At least, that's been my observation...I don't know why...

I have a tendency to switch: to write like I talk and then write like I think, which are sometimes two diametrically opposed processes...I find most men write like they think or write with a goal in mind...

And as for the usage of "y'all": I use it alot...I have an affection for the word (despite most white northerners' snobbish attitude towards it) and I feel it's a useful word, since there isn't a plural form of "you" in the English language...

[kajicarter.livejournal.com]

But "y'all" isn't plural. As my husband loves to point out to people (and I guess I'm taking over on this one, since he's not here), the plural for "y'all" is "all y'all".

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

but... but... "y'all" is a contraction of "you all" which IS plural!
I thought "y'all" was "you all" and "all y'all" was "all of you all" so different levels or emphasis of plurality, like "them" and "all of them"