they-uns
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From they + uns, a form of ones representing an older pronunciation of it.
Pronoun[edit]
they-uns
- (US, Midwestern US and Appalachia) They (third-person plural subject pronoun).
- (US, Midwestern US and Appalachia) Them (third-person plural object pronoun).
- 1880, George Chittenden Benham, A Year of Wreck: A True Story, by a Victim, page 106:
- […] 'only' (she said as if the thought had just struck her, and as if to herself) 'that would be burning up in part the property of one of we uns, as, thank God, the house don't belong to they uns.'
- 1903, Emma Rayner, Handicapped Among the Free, page 7:
- "I'd like mighty well to raise myself, and reach a helpin' hand down to they-uns below, but I sure ain't prepared to leave you sad and lonesome." She laughed — a laugh light as a child's. "Do I look sad?" she asked. "I'll be proud as a peacock ...
Synonyms[edit]
- see they