Tag Archives: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Youse Guys

When I hear the term youse guys, I think of New Jersey and movies about the Mob. I don’t know why because I’ve never been to New Jersey and I don’t watch movies about the Mafia. Maybe it came from the years of exposure to TV commercials for The Sopranos, despite the fact that I’ve never seen the actual show.

The dictionary doesn’t even specifically mention New Jersey. “YOUSE (you + the plural –s ending of nouns), probably of Irish-American origin, is most common in the North [United States], especially in urban centers like Boston, New York, and Chicago. It is rare in educated speech.”

The pronoun you can be singular or plural, but in American English it has been supplemented by additional forms to make the distinction between the two clear. You-all is used widely in the southern states; you guys is common in informal speech in the North. Youse doesn’t belong anywhere, except here at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

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