Word Rant Part I

As a former English teacher, writer, and perfectionist, there are some common errors in usage that bug me to no end.  So, Word Rant (and Grammar Rant and Punctuation Rant) will probably be a frequent visitor to Write Well Me.

For the first Word Rant, we'll explore "yeah" vs. "yea."

I see these misused and interchanged all the time.  Imagine what it looks like when a sentence reads, "Mom asked Billy to clean his room.  He replied, 'Yea, Mom.'"  I don't think Billy is really excited about cleaning his room :-), nor is he being archaic ("Yea, verily, mother, right away") so it probably reads better as "Yeah, Mom." (With maybe some rolling of eyes included.)

"Yeah" is the equivalent to "yes" and sounds like "yah."  "Yea," as the way we see it used most often now, is the equivalent to "hurray" and sounds like "yay."  (Oxford English Dictionary note - "yea" is also a form of yes, and it's used most often in conjunction with "nay" as in "the yeas have it.")

So how do you remember the difference?  Here's an easy way:  "Yea" ends in "a" - think of the long "a" sound in the word you're trying to say. ("Yea, Sally!!!  You made the goal!")

For "yeah," just think of the sound your voice actually makes when you say the word.  There's an exhalation of breath that sounds a bit like an "h." 

Yea!!!!  You've done it!!!  Now when someone asks if you know the difference between "yeah" and "yea," you can say, "Yeah, I do."  :)

Update:  As I thought about this last night before I went to bed (yes, that shows how much of a word geek I am - I'm thinking about words and proper usage before I go to sleep), I think the best way to go is to use "yay" to as an exclamation of excitement as opposed to "yea."  Since "yea" can also mean "yes," it might be hard to remember which one you want to use.

Comments

[Donna]

This is the second time I've found your website when doing a search on an English grammar questions! I think the other one was to find out if anyone else caught the mistake in the yogurt commercial (if I remember correctly). Anyway, you are not the only person who over thinks things and lies awake at night pondering grammar. We might be the only two though! I hope I didn't make too many errors in this message :)

[Hi There]

Hi There:
I have been using yea vs. yeah correctly but have been wondering if I was using it incorrectly due to the way I see others use it.

Thank you for your clarification.