Is it 'y'all' or 'ya'll'? Where does the apostrophe go in Texas' favorite word?

(NEXSTAR) — It's probably one of Texas' most-used words — but do you ever feel confused about where the apostrophe should go? You're not alone. Grammar can be hard, everyone!

As Washington State University explains, it's a common English language error — no matter how simple it might be. Since the Southernism is a contraction of "you" and "all," the apostrophe "stands for the second and third letters in 'you."

Thus, the correct placement is "y'all," not "ya'll" (which would cut the word 'all' in half).

"Put together 'you all,' and you get 'y'all,' just as 'cannot' becomes 'can't' and 'do not' becomes 'don't.' Think about the term in this sense, and you'll be less likely to misspell it," Southern Living writer Grace Haynes explains.

Even though you know it's right, the word "y'all" might still look wrong to your eye, though. Why is that? Your mind may be drawing visual connotations with a "will" contraction (like "we" + "will" = "we'll") or possibly it might be the "y" off by itself that merely looks odd.

But not everyone is a fan of the properly apostrophed "y'all."

"When I write, I don't put "y'all", I put "yall." The apostrophe indicates that something is missing and nothing is. I said yall and I meant yall," one user tweeted. Writer Noah Smith echoes the sentiment, saying "What if we took the apostrophe out of 'y'all' and just made it 'yall."