yous

See also: you's

English

Alternative forms

• (pronoun) youse, youz, youze

Etymology

From you +‎ -s (plural suffix).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /juːz/, /jəz/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːz

Pronoun

yous (dialectal)

1. (in the plural) You. [from 19th c.]

   What are yous up to tonight?

2. (in the singular, colloquial) You.
   • 1909, PG Wodehouse, The Gem Collector:

     ‘Dere ain't no use for me dis side, Mr. Chames,’ he said. ‘New York's de spot. Youse don't want none of me, now you're married.’

   • 1938, Patrick Kavanagh, The Green Fool:

     ‘Yous will meet us here outside this pub,’ Harry Curniskey said.

   • 1988, Kathy Lette, Girls' Night Out:

     ‘But what I also seen is that youse have never had a real man before, datin' all them boys. Youse have never had anyone who'd stand up to youse.’

   • 1992, Edward Bond, In the Company of Men:

     You think yous can live wi'oot money! Few months doon this hell, you'll murder for money!

   • 2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 81:

     He tossed off half of the drink and I gave him a refill. "What can I do for youse?" "First off, information."

Usage notes

• (plural): (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware, Boston, New England, Northeastern United States, Chicago, Cincinnati, Liverpool, Cape Breton, Ireland, Scotland, Michigan, Geordie, Wearside, Teesside)
• Yous(e) as a plural is found mainly in (Northern) England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, northern Nova Scotia, parts of Ontario in Canada and parts of the northeastern United States (especially areas like Boston where there was historically Irish immigration) and in Mexican-American communities in the southwest. It also occurs in Scouse.
  • Both yourselves and, rarely, yousselves (or youseselves, coordinate with the spelling youse) are found as reflexive forms.
• Yous(e) as a singular is found in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Cincinnati, and scattered throughout working class Italian-American communities in the Rust Belt. It is found in Australian English, though is uncommon there.^[1]
  • Both yourself and, rarely, yousself (or youseself, coordinate with the spelling youse) are found as reflexive forms.

Synonyms

• See the list of other second-person pronouns at you

Determiner

yous

1. (dialect) The group spoken or written to.

   What are yous kids doin?

   • 2015 June 1, Geoffrey Hope Gibson, Matriarch: An Australian Novel of Love and Wa, Loving Healing Press, →ISBN, page 68:

     “Heh, yous kids want a game?” “Dunno, suppose so.” “Dar and I versus yous; that's fair.” “Short kicks Ern, we hang on to the ball and let them do the chasing.” “You watch me take the marks Dar; them blokes won't know what hit them.”

Noun

yous

1. plural of you
   • 1992, Robert Dubin, Central Life Interests: Creative Individualism in a Complex World, page 10:

     Most of your life after babyhood has been played out by the several yous.

   • 2010, Patrick M Morley, The Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face, page 36:

     There are two yous — the visible you and the real you. The visible you is the you that is known by others.

Verb

yous

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of you.

References

1. James Lambert The Macquarie Australian Slang Dictionary (Sydney: Macquarie Library) 2004, page 222.