Saturday, April 19, 2008

Yeah, yea, ya...

I'm not judging or telling anyone what to do, just explaining what works for me and how I do it.

There seems to be a whole slew of different ways people use yeah, yea, ya, and yay. I use them all consistently so there's no confusion. You can do whatever you want, but here's what I do, so you don't wonder if I'm excited, agreeing, addressing you personally, or quoting scripture.

First, "yeah." "Yeah" is basically agreeing for me. Here's an example.
Friend 1: "Do you want to go see that movie?"
Friend 2: "Yeah, sure."

Second, "ya." This is a more casual form of "you." As in, "Hey, how are ya?"

Third, "yay." This is used as an exclamation. "I'm going to Disney Land!!! Yay!!!"

Forth, "yea." This is used in scripture. "Yea, verily, I say unto you..." and so forth.

Again, you can do what you want, but this is the way that all those words make the most sense to me, and then I don't have to guess which one to use. And yes, I feel very nerdy having typed it all out, but at the same time I feel good that it's all out in the open. Did I miss any?

8 comments:

Jared said...

Finally, someone is talking about the elephant in the room! You did forget "yo," a greeting similar to "hello," common among residents of Philadelphia. I think people should also know about "yous." This is the plural for of "you," which also has roots in Philadelphia (compare youns, [yüns] common in Pittsburgh.)

You are such a word nerd. It's ok, though, we still like ya!

Robin said...

What about "yah", which is used as "yeah" when you are speaking with a Swedish accent?

Bonny said...

It really bugs me when people use "yea" for any of the other forms of the word(s).

Cassidy said...

Thanks for clearing this up :) I totally agree.

emma said...

thank you word nazi!

em said...

It's so funny you would post this. After my; Yeah! I went to Logan post I spent the next three days wondering if I should change it to Yay! Then Tiff used Yeah the same way I did so I figured I was safe ;)

garrett said...

Jared - I TOTALLY forgot the "yous" and "youns"! "Yous" is my favorite when followed by "guys".

Robin - Totally forgot about the Sweeds!!! Thanks for clearing up that oversite.

Emma and Emity - Hey, I said I was just saying what works for me! You do what you want! :-)

Katey said...

I only use two of the forms...Ya and Yay. Ya takes on both ideas for Yeah and Ya as you have defined it. I love when you make these grammer post. I always find them to be entertaining!