Ben Yagoda on "Y'all"

As a southerner living in the north I've had to defend my use of the perfectly reasonable word "y'all" on several occasions.
Ok, that's a fucking lie. I've yet to meet somebody who cares enough about linguistics to even consider the validity of that particular second-person plural pronoun. But that's probably a good thing, since I'm really only equipped with the knowledge to discuss the weathe.
Anyway, here's an article by linguist Ben Yagoda in defense of "y'all." It's from a magazine called Stop Smiling that did a lot of cultural preservation-type articles... I used to have a subscription, but it went out of normal print about a year ago. They do it in some weird hardcover format that's sent out four times a year now. Fuck that. The back issues are still entertaining, though.
Enjoy!