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Wow! It’s Wednesday! How Do You Spell Yay?
So I picked this blogumn as a favorite, b/c not only did we have a rather intense comments discussion about this, but also b/c Friend of FaN, Sallie Patrick, convinced me that it should be spelled “yay,” and I’ve spelled it that way ever since!
From July 29, 2009
So I have this character in my rogue sci-fi novel who gets weirdly and rather childishly excited about everything and therefore ends up saying, “Yay!” a lot.
Or should it be “Yea!”?
Or should it be “Yeah!”?
Like me you’ve probably seen this exclamation spelled all three ways by others. I personally prefer “yea,” but will go with “yay” according to the addressee and/or the occasion.
For example, I might say, “Yea! I can’t wait to see you again” to a college buddy visiting town.
And “Yay! The 2010 reunion is going to rock” to a family member.
I never say “Yeah!” b/c I feel it sounds a little too much like I’m pumping my fist in the air when I write it this way, but I do understand what attracts other people to it.
Still, I wish we could all agree one way of spelling this exclamation. Then I’d really say yea!
Or yay!
Or yeah!
Sigh… But seriously, how do you think we should spell it? Let’s hash it out in the comments.
I spell it the same way you do…YAY!!!!!!!!
Sallie actually sent me some explanation for why it's grammatically correct to spell it "yay," so you're definitely in the right. This doesn't make me wonder what grammar questions will come up 50 years from now. I remember reading with amazement that the word "terrific" started out as straight-up slang in the same vein as "I'm bad"…
I spell it the same way you do…YAY!!!!!!!!
Sallie actually sent me some explanation for why it's grammatically correct to spell it "yay," so you're definitely in the right. This doesn't make me wonder what grammar questions will come up 50 years from now. I remember reading with amazement that the word "terrific" started out as straight-up slang in the same vein as "I'm bad"…