Where "Youse" Comes From
Macquarie Dictionary traces "youse" to Irish English (Irish "yez"), first recorded in Australia in the 1890s, with an example from Miles Franklin's My Brilliant Career in 1901. It fills the gap English leaves for a plural "you" and is considered non-standard.
Sources: What're youse doing? (Macquarie Dictionary) · yous (Wiktionary)
“Are youse coming to the pub after work?”
“I'll shout the first round if youse can all get here by six.”
"What are youse having for tea tonight?"
How Aussies Actually Use It
Considered non-standard/informal and generally avoided in writing, but extremely common in casual speech across all states.
Youse fills a real gap: standard English has one word for "you" whether you are talking to one person or ten, and youse makes it clear you mean the whole group. It sounds casual and a bit down to earth, and it is heard most in relaxed talk with family, mates and workmates. Some people hear it as uneducated, so many speakers drop it in a job interview or when writing.
It usually comes with a question or an invitation: "Youse coming?" "Are youse right?" It is not used for one person, so "youse" to a single friend would sound wrong. You may also see it spelled "yous". Learners do not need to use it, but it helps to recognise it so you do not think the speaker is talking only to one person. "You lot" and "you guys" do a similar job.
See also: Mate (another everyday informal word for people), Yeah Nah (typical of relaxed spoken Australian English), Bloke (casual people-word).
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