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One of the most frequently misspelled English words only has three letters

posted 2 years ago by MaximRecoil (4830)
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The word that means "yes" is spelled "yea," not "yay."

"Yay" is what, for example, children say when they get ice cream. It wasn't even included in Webster's dictionary until fairly recently, since its earliest known usage was in 1963.

"Yea," on the other hand, is an archaic word (it appears 340 times in the King James Version of the Bible, from 1611) which survives today primarily in oral voting, as in, "Yea or nay?"

It's probably the most frequently misspelled English word percentage-wise, i.e., the ratio of the number of times people attempt to spell it to the number of times people get it wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if it's misspelled over 99% of the time on the internet alone.

Ironically, "yea" does get used frequently these days, but as a misspelling of "yeah."

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78448) 2 years ago

Yup.

[–] nyctc7 (44088) 2 years ago

Yeah.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13075) 2 years ago

I would say "yay" is a new word. It doesn't have the same meaning as "yea".

"Yea" just means yes. "Yay" is more a celebratory exclamation, an applaud. When asked a simple "yes or no" question you never say "yay". You say "yes" or "yeah".

No Maxim, "yay" is a new word in its own right.

It's not a misspelled "yea".

[–] MaximRecoil (4830) 2 years ago

"No Maxim, "yay" is a new word in its own right."

I already said as much. Again:

"Yay" is what, for example, children say when they get ice cream. It wasn't even included in Webster's dictionary until fairly recently, since its earliest known usage was in 1963.

It is not the same word as "yea," which has been used as an affirmative/yes vote in oral voting for hundreds of years. The reason people confuse them is because they are pronounced the same, i.e., they are homophones. This type of error is known as an "eggcorn":

egg·corn
noun
a word or phrase that results from a mishearing or misinterpretation of another, an element of the original being substituted for one that sounds very similar or identical (e.g. tow the line instead of toe the line)

"It's not a misspelled "yea"."

Yes, it is. The first word in the sentence "Yay or nay?" is a misspelling of "yea."

yea
adverb
ˈyā
1
: yes
—used in oral voting

yea
noun
1
: affirmation, assent
2
a
: an affirmative vote
b
: a person casting a yea vote

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yea

MORE ABOUT YEA
What does yea mean?

Yea is an old way of saying yes. It’s especially used as a way of voting yes—the opposite of voting nay (no).

In this sense, it can be used as a noun meaning a vote of yes, as in There are six yeas and three nays—the yeas have it.

Based on its use in voting, yea is sometimes used in the informal question Yea or nay? (meaning Yes or no?).

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/yea

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13075) 2 years ago

The word "yay" evolved from "yea" in the 1930's. But it was always a cheer. It's also pronounced differently with a "y" sound at the end. It's a different word than "yea".

You're saying the same thing but from a different angle.

I'm not sure where you get "1963" as the origin though. "Yay" has been used as a cheer for almost a hundred years.

Since the 1930s, yay has been used as a little celebratory word. The word yea is much older and used in formal texts to mean “indeed.”

https://www.waywordradio.org/yea-vs-yay/

[–] MaximRecoil (4830) 2 years ago

yay
interjection
ˈyā
—used to express joy, approval, or excitement

Word History
First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of yay was in 1963

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yay

"The word "yay" evolved from "yea" in the 1930's."

No, it didn't. "Yea" was already an archaic, obsolete word in the 1930s, it's only real use being as the counterpart to "nay" in oral voting, the same as it is today.

"It's also pronounced differently with a "y" sound at the end."

No, it isn't pronounced differently. "Yay" and "yea" have exactly the same pronunciation (just compare the phonetic spellings: ˈyā for both words). They both perfectly rhyme with "nay," and that's the only reason people constantly misspell "yea" as "yay" when trying to write "yea or nay." Like I said, it's an "eggcorn."

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13075) 2 years ago

My source tracks "yay" to the 1930's. We all know stadiums cheers have said "yay" since before 1963. Sorry, my source makes more sense than yours. If I could be arsed I'd link to people in the 1940's cheering "yay".

[–] MaximRecoil (4830) 2 years ago

Webster's Dictionary trumps "waywordradio.org." Furthermore, the Oxford English Dictionary also says 1963. The OED also trumps "waywordradio.org."

In any case, when exactly the word "yay" originated is irrelevant to my original post, and I don't even know what you've been trying to argue about here. In your first post in this thread, in your first three paragraphs, you restated, in different words, things I'd already said, yet, you seemed to think you were arguing with me, because you started your third paragraph with "No, Maxim," which made no sense at all. Then your last paragraph/sentence...

"It's not a misspelled 'yea'."

... was simply wrong in the context of this thread. The context of this thread is that "yay" is a misspelling of "yea" when someone writes "yay or nay." You don't really think that formal oral voting, used in e.g., governments and such, for hundreds of years, uses an informal interjection/exclamation that wasn't even in Webster's dictionary until about ten years ago, and means the same thing as "yippee" or "woohoo," do you?

If you're under the impression that I said that "yay" is always a misspelling of "yea," then you're mistaken. I never said, suggested, nor even hinted at any such thing. The context of this thread is the word as it's used in oral voting, i.e., "yea or nay." People constantly write "yay or nay," which is a misspelling of "yea." On the other hand, if someone writes, e.g., "Yay! I'm going to Disneyland!" then it's not a misspelling of "yea," nor a misspelling at all.

[–] chilidoggg (14565) 2 years ago

My guess was "its" versus "it's"

[–] samoanjoes (58491) 2 years ago

I've always spelled it "yeah".

[–] MaximRecoil (4830) 2 years ago

"Yeah" is a different word with a different pronunciation. "Yea" and "yay" are pronounced exactly the same (they both rhyme with hay, hey, day, say, nay, way, bay, lay, pay, and so on), which is why so many people confuse them when trying to write "yea or nay."

[–] samoanjoes (58491) 2 years ago

I see.

[–] SomeCodhopper (76) 2 years ago

.
Your prolly write.
.

[–] Bloodshot77 (14186) 2 years ago

What about yarp?

[–] AndyKing1967 (39705) 2 years ago

Narp!

[–] Stratego (31047) 2 years ago

Aye