[kavok]

It isn't only used in America, but I would agree that it is predominantly known for that. Usage of the word appears to be increasing. It fulfills a role in the English language that no other word seems to hit as easily. It'd be nice if the word were more publicly acceptable. I didn't grow up in the south but always found the word to be useful.

[dcow]

Keep in mind it's American southern slang and not everyone can necessarily help that they use it. It's effectively an accent. Be careful what y'alls implying about its usage (;

[WorldMaker]

Yeah, ever since the Middle English combination of orthography issues (eth/thorn versus y) and religious literature accidentally merged the old singular second person pronoun (thou) and the plural one (you), English has missed an important counting word. `y'all` might not be the best solution to that missing hole, but it's the best one we (all) have around these days.

[dfxm12]

...and the fine folks from one end of Southern Pennsylvania to the other collectively sigh as "youse" and "yinz" aren't even considered.

[WorldMaker]

Personally, I've considered and rejected them. :)

"youse" falls into the bad pattern of also picking up "guys" or "all" as hangers on, in my opinion, defeating the purpose. ("youse guys" being the terrible patriarchic movie Mafioso cliché, and "youse all" a terrible Frankensteinian monster I've heard far too frequently.)

"yinz" to me looks and sounds more like a weird pharmaceutical than an English word, and y'all aren't going to convince me otherwise. ;)

But of course, my opinion is biased by geography and familiarity.