Word Confusion: Yay, Yea, Yeah, or Yes?

Posted August 11, 2016 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
8 Jan 2023

I don’t know why I never pursued the yes before. Lord knows I’ve been uncomfortable with texting yeah as a thumbs-up response. There had to be something better. And, yay, I found it! The yeas are in, and I’m going all yay-happy.

More of the Affirmative

With English such a rich language, there are a number of ways to be positive AND convey a mood. Think about it. Put that imagination to work and consider a scene in which a character responds with a moody all right, a sarcastic sure, or a few obsequious of courses or absolutelys. Indeed and very well conjure up images of a stiff conservative type while yes, indeedy makes me think of Dr. Who.

Roger, aye, way, a-okay, and aye aye give it that military flavor. For the much more casual touch — yep, yup, ya, uh-huh, okay, OK, okey-dokey, okey-doke, and ‘k — are quite useful.

By all means, there are more words that give a business-like feeling or of that between equals such as certainly, right, affirmative, in the affirmative, and agreed. And lord only knows how many more are out there. So have fun!

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Yay, Yea, Yeah, or Yes?” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Yay Yea Yeah Yes

View of the São Paulo supporters during the second semifinal match of Paulista Championship of 2009 between São Paulo and Corinthians in Cícero Pompeu de Toledo stadium, known as Morumbi. One of the most important brazilian derbies. The game ended 0 to 2.

São Paulo and Corinthians by Tales.ebner is his own work and in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

It is a crowd of “yays”, but they seem rather subdued.


Representative Sam Mitchell and Representative Andrew Johnson vote

Representative Sam Mitchell by photographer Donn Dughi is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Representatives Sam Mitchell and Andrew Johnson vote “Yea” on a bill.

All the yeahs from Usher, the Beatles, Def Leppard, Joe Nichols, Willy Moon, and Chris Brown

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah . . .


thumbs up

Thumbs Up by VistaICO.com (VistaICO Toolbar Icons) is under the CC BY 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

A “thumbs up” is a nonverbal way to say “yes”.

Part of Grammar:
Adverb 1;
Exclamation 2

Variant spelling: yea

Adverb; Noun

Plural for the noun: yeas

Variant spelling: yay

Adverb;
Exclamation;
Noun

Plural for the noun: yeahs

Variant spelling: yea, yeh, yes

Adverb; Exclamation; Noun; Verb, transitive

Plural for the noun: yeses, yesses

Third person present verb: yeses, yesses
Past tense or past participle: yessed
Present participle: yessing

A cheer


Adverb:
[North American; informal; with adjectives of measure] So 1

  • To this extent

Exclamation:
[Informal] Expressing triumph, approval, or encouragement 2

A formal yes in voting


Adverb:
[Archaic or formal] Yes

  • Used for emphasis, especially to introduce a stronger or more accurate word than one just used
  • Used mainly in voting

Indeed

Not only this but even

Noun:
[Archaic or formal] An affirmative answer, reply, or vote

  • An affirmation
  • [In the US Congress] An affirmative vote
  • A person who votes in the affirmative
Casual yes


Adverb:
[Informal] Yes

Exclamation:
Nonstandard spelling of yes, representing informal pronunciation

Noun:
A positive reply

Base yes


Adverb:
Used to express agreement in answer to a question, request, or offer or with an earlier statement

Used to introduce a phrase with greater emphasis or clearness

Used to show uncertainty or polite interest

Used to indicate excitement

Exclamation:
Used to give an affirmative response

  • Expressing agreement with a positive statement just made
  • Expressing contradiction of a negative statement

Used as a response to someone addressing one or otherwise trying to attract one’s attention

Used to question a remark or ask for more detail about it

  • Asked at the end of a statement to indicate the expectation of agreement

Encouraging someone to continue speaking

Expressing delight

Noun:
An affirmative answer or decision, especially in voting

Verb, transitive:
To give an affirmative reply to

  • Give assent or approval to
Examples:
Adverb:
I knew him when he was yay big.

I dunno. I reckon he was about yay high . . .

The doll is about yay high.

Exclamation:
Yay! Great, Julie!

Yay! I’m so happy for you.

And yay to teachers who actually teach.

Adverb:
She has the right to say yea or nay.

He was full, yea, crammed with anxieties.

Yea, and he did come.

He was a good, yea, a noble man.

How say you? Yea or nay?

Yea, though thou dost spurn me, I shall come about.

Noun:
The assembly would give the final yea or nay.

The yeas have it.

Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay.

Adverb:
“Will you cook dinner tonight?” “Yeah, sure.”

“You remember the person, yeah, she’s the one handing off that data to be argued over by Google and advertisers” (Williams).

“Are you ready?” “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll do it.

Exclamation:
Yeah! You go, girl!

Yeah! We did it!

Yeah, all right, I’ll come.

Noun:
She gave me the yeah.

This is the year of yeah.

We got that, like, ya know, that yeah connection.

Adverb:
“Are you ready?” “Yes, I am.”

Yes, I think you are right.

We are glad, yes, very glad to see you!

Yes? Who’s there?

Yes, what can I do for you?

Yes! We won!

Exclamation:
“Do you understand?” “Yes.”

“That was a grand evening.” “Yes, it was.”

“You don’t want to go.” “Yes, I do.”

“Oh, Mr. Lawrence.” “Yes?”

“It should be easy to check.”
“Oh yes? How?”

You think I perhaps killed Westbourne, yes?

“When you bought those photographs . . .” “Yes?”

Ooh, plenty to eat, including hot roast beef sandwiches (yes!).

“Did it come as a surprise to you?” “Yes and no.”

Noun:
They answered with assured and ardent yeses.

His answer is yes.

We need a yes to take immediate action.

Verb, transitive:
Yes, you can go ahead.

Yes, do it.

All that yessing and noing was going to give me a headache.

Derivatives:
Noun: aye Adverb: ay, aye
Exclamation: yessir, yessiree
History of the Word:
  1. 1960s and probably a variant of the adverb yea or yeah.
  2. It first appeared in 1669.
Before 900, Old English gēa or is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch and the German ja.

Middle English ye, ya.

American English, colloquial, by 1863, from a drawling pronunciation of yes.

1900-05 as a variant of yea or yes.

Old English gēse or gīse is probably from an unrecorded phrase meaning may it be so.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Yay, Yea, Yeah, or Yes?

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: yeah

The Free Dictionary: yesses

Williams, Kirk. “This Decade’s Most Important Marketing Question: What data rights do advertisers possess?” Search Engine Land. 17 Sept 2020. Web. 8 Jan 2023. <https://searchengineland.com/this-decades-most-important-marketing-question-what-data-rights-do-advertisers-possess-340738>.

Other Resources

You may want to check out the Oxford University Press’ posts, “22 ways to say yes” and (don’t it just figure?) “29 ways to say no“.

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Pinterest Photo Credits

Gabe’s Birthday by Twice25 is under the CC-BY 1.0 license; =Felix the Cat, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Felix_the_cat.svg>, by Otto Messmer, converted to vector by Tom Edwards, is in the public domain; China Ceramics Red Plate by Rosemania is under the CC-BY 2.0 license; and, Party Hat by Salix is under the CC-BY 3.0 license; all are via Wikimedia Commons.

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