Can We Stop Saying This?

[Margret]

"Thou," "thee," "thy," and "thine" were not just second person, but second person familiar, appropriate for use with family and close friends, but not with strangers or even mere acquaintances. It was rather cocky of the Puritans to apply them to God.

Margret

 

[Blakeney Green]

The problem is that unlike many languages, modern English simply does not have different words to specify singular and plural in the second person. This can make it awkward to distinguish whether you are addressing multiple people or one person when both could be options in context.

Personally, I don't use the phrase "your guys" and can't imagine doing so... but I also don't think it's a matter of pure individual laziness. I think the limitations inherent in the English language are a factor too.

 

[Merlin77]

I don't know about other kids but I've been saying "your guys'" since I was very young, before I even knew about selfies and social media and all that.

The phrase doesn't make sense, but people understand it. At least it's not like LOL or OMG or BRB. As a writer, I can say that I love to add words/phrases that don't make any sense to the dialogue. It shows how a language can bend and change, and it adds to the history.

Still, proper literacy should be encouraged.