Ohhhh I love this thread!! I am extremely interested in words, word origins and phraseology in general. There is a wonderful show on H2 called "America's Secret Slang" It even explains the origins of Y'all...and it's NOT what you think!
The Scot/Irish settled the south in a time when YE was the word for YOU. When they would talk about a group they would say Ye all....abbreviated to y'all! Fascinating stuff
They explain Trail blazing...so many things. I'm so enamored with that show!