Yeah or Yay, What’s the Difference?

Source: Pixabay CC0 Public Domain

Quite often I see people use ‘yeah’ in texts and posts when they want to express delight or joy in something. This has long puzzled me as the word those folks mean to use rhymes with ‘day.’

One explanation of the proper use and etymology of the two word can be found in the August 11, 2011 post on the Grammarphobia Blog written by Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellermany, titled “Yay, yea, and yeah.”

In their post, O’Conner and Kellermany describe the origin of the words and give some historical, literary examples of each words usage. Their research includes references to the Oxford English Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4^th Ed.), and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11^th Ed.). One cannot get much more authoritative than those respected reference works.

According to O’Conner and Kellermany, the diphthong in the word ‘yeah,’ is a short ‘e’ such as in the word ‘pet,’ followed by the ‘uh’ sound.[i] The word itself is an adverb meaning ‘yes.’[ii]

The word these enthusiastic folks want to use to show their excited support, according to this source, is spelled ‘yay.’ ‘Yay’ rhymes with ‘day.’ ‘Yay’ is “an exclamation of pleasure, approval, elation, or victory,” according to the American Heritage Dictionary and, an “exclamation of triumph, approval, or encouragement,” per the Oxford English Dictionary.[iii] Both words are said to have derived from the Old English word ‘yea.’

Yet there are those who disagree, such as the author of this post on the EducationBug website, “Yea vs Yeah.” This author argues that yay, yea, and yeah are three separate and distinct words, each with its own meaning and usage.[iv] According to this author, whose name is not provided on the website, the word ‘yay’ is actually a description of a person’s or thing’s shortness of stature, ‘yea’ is the word that indicates approval or excitement, and ‘yeah’ is “an expression of agreement.[v] This article agrees that both ‘yea’ and ‘yay’ rhyme with ‘day,’ but ‘yeah’ is pronounced “yeh.” While acknowledging the common use of ‘yay’ to indicate enthusiasm or excitement, the article insists that this usage is incorrect.

So, though both references do indicate that the word ‘yeah’ is never correct to show enthusiastic approval or excitement, the two disagree as to which, ‘yay’ or ‘yea,’ is correct.

Personally, I prefer ‘yay’ to express joy or excitement. ‘Yea’ is what you say at a meeting to indicate a vote in favor of the motion.

So I guess, as far as I’m concerned, the ‘yays’ have it.

As always, I remain,

The Exhausted Educator

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[i] Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman, http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/08/yay-yea-yeah.html

[ii] ibid

[iii] ibid

[iv] http://www.educationbug.org/a/yea-vs--yeah.html

[v] ibid