Wordsmith Wednesday

Alright. Time for me to educate all you people out there who don't know how to properly use the 3 "Y's".

NOTE:  I had decided way back in December 2008 not to publish this, but recent complaints by my friend, Alicia, motivated me to resurrect it from the draft archives.  You can thank her for this snarky little tongue-in-cheek post.

What ARE the 3 "Y's" you ask?  They are:  Yea, Yay, and Yeah.

Yea - is an archaic word used to indicate agreement or affirmation.  In other words, its an out-dated form of the word "yes."

Its modern uses should be limited to the historic (quoting a primary source), poetic, and humorous (for effect or emphasis). 

In pop culture (i.e. social networking sites) this word is commonly - and mistakenly - substituted for the next "Y" word, which is:

Yay -  This word is an expression of excitement and cheer, such as, "We won...Yay!"  It is interchangeable with other joyous sentiments such as "Woot!"  "Yippee!" or, as Aunt Riesa would say, "Hot diggety dog!"   If you cannot appropriately substitute one of these phrases for Yay, then you are most likely misusing the word.

Yeah - This is the most flexible of the 3 "Y" words.  It can be used as an informal "yes" (as in "Yeah...I'm going"), but it can also be used in the expression of joy (i.e. "Yeah, baby!").  In both cases, it means YES.  When in doubt about which "Y" word to use, use this one.

Now that you know...do us all a favor and GET IT RIGHT.  (that was compliments of Alicia)