Originally Posted by
Tide_from_PAE
In Alabama, all y'all is typically used when speaking to a larger group of people, though many transplants will use y'all for groups of all sizes. Very rarely have I heard y'all being used when speaking to a single person.
Y'all is a term that those who've spent significant amounts of time in the US South seem to pick up and never really let go.
I grew up and continue to employ "Y'all", but very rarely have I heard it used by lifetime Southerners in reference to a single person. The single "Y'all" is largely a creation of Hollywood, TV scriptwriters, authors of romantic potboilers, and transplants from Lower Arctica. Big-haired operators of roadside antique shops in the South are, however, permitted by Public law 14-11 to employ "Y'all" to single customers to promote sales.