"You people"

[medic]

I have to ask this question because I'm not well-versed with American grammar and culture.
I hear the phrase 'you people' a lot from a person I know. I never mind anybody saying this (for a long time) until I realized I can't imagine myself saying this phrase. It would sound like I have no respect to the persons I'm speaking to.

Can anybody please educate me more about this phrase?

 

[tsdragon]

That's not an expression I hear very often. When used it is often used in a condescending manner to refer to an ethnic group other than ones own.

However the person you know may also be using in as a second-person plural pronoun. Here in Virginia they usually just say "y'all" instead.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[craigsboyd]

I was trying to recall a time when I had heard "you people" used in anything approaching a positive connotation. I can't think of one, though I am sure it can be done. So, I tend to think of it along similar lines to what tsdragon said above.

When used to refer to an ethnic or social-economic group, it is highly inappropriate. Besides that, it just sounds really ignorant. So, I don't use it.

SweetPotato Software Website
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[earthandfire]

It is used (though not extensively) in the UK in a similar condescending manner, just demonstrating the user's ignorance.

 

[medic]

The use of "y'all" (you-all) is common here in Louisiana. It could be possible that this person's use of "you people" is meant to be equivalent of "y'all". On the other hand, this person use this phrase more in argumentative than in light conversations.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Medic,

If the person of whom you speak uses the phrase "you peopl" in argumentative/confrontational situations, then s/he is using a "low blow". They are "drawing the line" between them and the "you people" and are probably casting aspirsions on the "you people" group. And "you people" are supposed to somehow guess exactly which "group" s/he is verbally "spitting on": Women, men, blacks, whites, asians, Hispanics, lower-paid workers, higher-paid workers, management, line workers...Someone is being "spat" upon.

And because they weren't specific about which group "you people" is, they think they are hiding behind deniability from a labour-relations-liability perspective because they can deny that they are slurring a "protected group" by saying, "Oh, you misunderstood...I meant <fill in some protected group here into which the victim coincidentally falls>."

Regardless of this person's intent, they are creating a threatening work environment for which the company bears liability. S/he is unfairly biased and prejudiced against whatever group s/he is slurring. If this is standard behaviour for this person or any others at your organisation, then they need a serious personal or training session from the HR rep.

Whoever is the target of these comments should file a complaint (either internally or with a governmental organisation) to put a stop to this behaviour. If you are suspicious of inaction by an internal "good-ol'-boy" network, then contact your Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Office for assistance.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

http://www.dasages.com:

Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Sorry...I knew I would regret hitting the [Submit] button before a proof read. Please forgive the "you peopl" (should be "you people") and "<fill in some protected group here into which the victim coincidentally falls>" should have read "<fill in some unprotected group here into which the victim coincidentally falls>".

Cheers,


Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

http://www.dasages.com:

Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[SteveGlo]

Occasionally I hear the similar "people like you" and the implied sneer is clearly there.

I believe it is no longer practical to sneer at, insult and otherwiase denigrate people with whom one is, even, literally at war. I think not because the way everything it is jumbled up there are no longer any clear cut distinctions - you may be at war with one group of 'x' and have at the same time allies amongst another of the same 'x' grouping.

Perhaps civilised values are starting to take root? Name calling is a rather childish way to conduct oneself.

 

[jsteph]

People like you" I think is less of a broad slur than "You people"--it assumes the person saying it has made a judgement about that specific person--maybe a personality trait or his opinion on a specific topic--not his ethnic group as a whole.
--Jim

 

[earthandfire]

Agreed, but its still not a friendly phrase and would not normally be used in a friendly manner.

 

[Dimandja]

>I believe it is no longer practical to sneer at, insult and otherwiase denigrate people with whom one is, even, literally at war.

>Perhaps civilised values are starting to take root? Name calling is a rather childish way to conduct oneself.

Obviously, you're not patriotic.

 

[PaulTEG]

I hear "people like you", and I think, "how popular am I"
--Paul

 

[tsdragon]

Dave: where did the "labour-relations-liability perspective", "threatening work environment for which the company bears liability", training session from the HR rep" and "Whoever is the target of these comments should file a complaint (either internally or with a governmental organisation) to put a stop to this behaviour. If you are suspicious of inaction by an internal "good-ol'-boy" network, then contact your Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Office for assistance" come from? I didn't see the remotest mention in the OP that this had anything at all to do with a co-worker or their work environment.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[Dimandja]

>I hear the phrase 'you people' a lot from a person I know.

It is possible that this person has a vocabulary shortage. They may be trying to say "People who hold that view", or "People who think that way".

But, I also strongly suspect that that person has an abusive/abused background (evident in their choice of words). That person may have "unresolved issues".

 

[columb]

To me the underlying message of you people is not me and people like you has equal overtones of people not like me.

In either case it's reinforcing an us and them mentality with reduced room for compromise. After all I must be one of us because I know I'm not one of them.

Columb Healy

 

[earthandfire]

But the tone generally used implies that the us is better than the them

 

[SantaMufasa]

Tracy, you are absolutely right. Talk about pre-conceived notions...I incorrectly presumed Medic's entire situation to be in the work environment. Apologies to Medic (and the rest) for my assumption, but the comment still justifies umbrage. If the offense is not in the workplace, then the response is limited to inter-personal rather than institution.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

http://www.dasages.com:

Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[SilentAiche]

I think the majority of the time that "you people' is employed it is in a negative, disparaging fashion. Other times, I think the speaker is trying to subconsciously distance himself from the group in question.

Scenario 1: Town council public meeting, with a white (soon-to-be-former) Councilman addressing a primarily black audience:

"You people seem to think the police can prevent every assault and solve every crime within an hour."


Scenario 2: Sales manager to Sales staff:

"You people need to get back to the basics of customer service, responsiveness and courtesy."


The unnacceptable racial intent of #1 requires no explanation.

In #2, the Sales manager may be subconsciously trying to distance himself from the problems he is accusing his staff of having.

I attended a training course once on SCAN (Scientific Content Analysis). SCAN looks at how people use words to express themselves to uncover potential subconscious meanings (or something like that; it's been a few years).

One example was Sen. Ted Kennedy's written statement after Chappaquidic. At one point, he wrote that "the car drove off the bridge." It seems clear he was trying to distance himself from having any responsibility for the behavior of the vehicle he was driving.

Tim

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[Thadeus]

[Thadeus sprinkles mud in the water]
I do not disagree that "you people" is used primarily in a disparaging manner.
Are there instances though, when it is acceptable (not preferred, but acceptable) to use the phrase? I would say, sure.

PhoneCompanyRep: Your bill is so high because you are using the web services features.
Customer: I don't have a phone capable of web services.
PhoneCompanyRep: You must, because I can see by your bill that you use them every day.
Customer: You people have screwed this account up since I subscribed 6 months ago!

And here are some additional examples:
"This liability system of ours is, what I'm telling you, is out of control. And you people in this area and the doctors in this area understand what I'm talking about." Bush (43)

"I wish every one of you people that have contributed, men and women, in one way or another, direct or indirect, to the intelligence of this country could have been there just to feel first hand the emotion. " Bush (43)

Here, in both of the Bush quotes the "you people" is further clarified as "[those] in this area" or "[those] that have contributed". In this use it works fine. Again, not the preferred wording, but it works.

~Thadeus

 

[tsdragon]

Thadeus: Agreed, context is (almost) everything.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.