we-uns en · PRON
Pronunciation
- /ˈwiːənz/ (UK)
Etymology
From we + uns, a form of ones representing an older pronunciation of it.
Meanings
-
(Appalachia, Midwestern-US, US) We.
‘We'uns was sittin under a tree over to the cannin factory just a little while ago, eatin our dinner, when this here stranger rode up.’
1970, Donald Harington, Lightning Bug:“We-uns hev all been a-gittin' married round hyar lately. Whar's that purty wife o' yourn?”
1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 16:
-
(Appalachia, Midwestern-US, US) Us. (Compare us'uns.)
Then he come back to we-uns laughin'; sed the Yank offered him twenty dollars a month to go home to Maine with him, an' went on like a preacher […]
1892, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine: A Popular Journal of General Literature, page 62:But Marshall Rutherford hain't no neighbour to we-uns. He hain't belongin' to Big Creek Gap. We hain't wantin' no more of Kennedy Poteet's stock in here, and we hain't aimin' to hev 'em.
1900, Emma Rayner, Visiting the Sin: A Tale of Mountain Life in Kentucky and Tennessee, page 293:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| we'uns | alternative | lexicographic | |
| we'ins | alternative | lexicographic |