Yas (slang)
Yas is a slang term for "yes." "Yas" was added to Oxford Dictionaries in 2017, and defined the word as a form of exclamation meaning, "expressing great pleasure or excitement".[1] Yas was defined by Oxygen's Scout Durwood as "a more emphatic 'yes' often paired with 'queen.' The more A's in a yaaaaas, the higher the grade of excitement."[2]
History of the term
"Yass" was used by the character Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) in Jack Kerouac's On the Road, published in 1957.[3][4]
Yas also has roots in late 1980s ball culture, an LGBT subculture in the United States,[5] and was adopted by the wider queer community in the 1990s.[6] The term was used during performances by drag queens, as an expression of encouragement and support, and can be heard (pronounced [jæːs]) in the 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning, which chronicles New York City's ball culture.[5][7]
The expression entered the general public lexicon in the 2010s after being used by a Lady Gaga fan expressing his admiration for the singer's appearance in a viral video[8], and by Ilana Glazer in Broad City[5] (there pronounced [jɑːs] and [jʌs][9]). By 2016, "yas" had spurred discussion as to whether it constituted cultural appropriation.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Hafner, Josh (February 27, 2017). "'Yas,' 'squad goals' and 'sausage fest' added to Oxford Dictionaries". USA Today. Gannett Company. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ↑ Durwood, Scout (July 12, 2016). "7 Pop Culture Phrases That Were Appropriated from Black and Gay Culture". Oxygen. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ↑ Sante, Luc. "On the Road: The Original Scroll - Jack Kerouac - Books - Review". Retrieved 2018-08-02.
- ↑ Kerouac, Jack (1957). On the Road.
- 1 2 3 4 Amatulli, Jenna (July 19, 2016). "Here's the Real Origin of the Word 'Yas'". HuffPost. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ↑ Carey-Mahoney, Ryan (August 24, 2016). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' is more than a TV show. It's a movement". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ↑ Marine, Brooke (October 30, 2017). "Frank Ocean Vogued the Night Away with Tyler, the Creator and Joanne the Scammer at His 30th Birthday Party". W. Condé Nast. ISSN 0162-9115. OCLC 1781845. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ↑ YAS GAGA / Lady Gaga in New York City 08.21
- ↑ Broad City: YAS Supercut