All Kind Of
In Southern and Appalachian speech, all kind of is used where Standard English would say all kinds of. The phrase means "many of " or "many kinds of" or "a variety of," and is often pronounced all kine a in relaxed conversation.
You'll hear 'all kine a' out in the country - whether it's to describe people, trouble, animals. It's often not about variety, but about the number. You'll hear 'all kine a' out in the country - whether it's to describe people, trouble, animals. It's often not about variety, but about the number. Pronunciation
/ɔːl kaɪn ə/
Meaning & Usage
- Many or various kinds of something (phrase)
We had all kind of folks stop by after church.Yeah, and all kine a desserts too.Origin and Etymology
The use of singular kind instead of kinds in this construction dates back to older forms of English and remains widespread in Southern and Appalachian speech. It likely persisted due to natural simplification in informal language and Scots-Irish influence on regional grammar.
Usage Notes
All kind of is a hallmark of casual Southern conversation. While considered nonstandard in formal English, it’s perfectly natural in spoken dialect. The vowel in kind often flattens to kine or kinda, depending on the speaker and speed of speech.
- all kind of - "We had all kind of weather today."
- all kine a - phonetic Southern form (heard across the rural South)
- all kinda - casual spelling variant, common in transcription of speech