[Ads-l] antedating "yay"

Fri Sep 24 13:57:31 UTC 2021

Me too. Respelling.

Yeas and nays.

JL

On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 6:06 AM Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> I've always assumed that the interjection "yay" represented a misspelling
> (or respelling) of "yea."
>
> --Charlie
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2021 4:48 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: antedating "yay"
>
> [EXTERNAL SENDER - PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY]
>
>
> Below is a longer excerpt from the 1898 citation. This citation may
> show a transition of "Yeah" from the sense "Yes" to the sense "An
> exclamation of triumph, approval, or encouragement".
>
> Date: August 28, 1898
> Newspaper: The Sunday State Journal (Nebraska State Journal)
> Newspaper Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
> Article: Arrive While Fight Is On
> Quote Page 11, Column 3
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/333758867/?terms=Yeah
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> First came the news that dispatches could only be received from Hong Kong.
> "Yes, Yes," from a thousand throats, while as many immediately commanded
> "Hush!"
> "An aggressive warfare is being carried on in Cuba. In a combined sea
> and land attack on Santiago de Cuba from four to six thousand
> Spaniards were lost—get that?"
> "Yeah—hooray—hip-hip—4,600 Spaniards—hooray—"
> "And 800 Americans—"
> "Oooh"—and then in a cry of rage and anger—"To hell with Spain."
> "A fleet has sailed from America for Spain"
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 4:26 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Interesting topic, Ben. Below is an instance of "Yeah—hooray—hip-hip"
> > in 1898, and "yeah" appears to be functioning as an alternative
> > spelling for the exclamation "yay".
> >
> > The OED lists "yeah" as an adverb with the sense "Yes"; first citation
> > in 1863. But I didn't see "yeah" as an alternate spelling for "yay".
> >
> > Date: August 28, 1898
> > Newspaper: The Sunday State Journal (Nebraska State Journal)
> > Newspaper Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
> > Article: Arrive While Fight Is On
> > Quote Page 11, Column 3
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > "Yeah—hooray—hip-hip—4,600 Spaniards—hooray—"
> > "And 800 Americans—"
> > "Oooh"—and then in a cry of rage and anger—"To hell with Spain."
> > "A fleet has sailed from America for Spain"
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Below is a "Yeah! Hooray!" in 1906 although the date should be double
> checked.
> >
> > Year: Copyright 1906 (Juvenile series; date should be double checked)
> > Book Title: Captain Jack Lorimer: Or, The Young Athletes of Millvale High
> > Author: Winn Standish (Walter Leon Sawyer)
> > Chapter 35: Tried by the Test of Defeat
> > Quote Page 230
> > Publisher: A. L. Burt Company, New York.
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=LtcqAAAAYAAJ&q=Yeah#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > "And —  say — you're goin to have a chance, by gum! Say, didn't your
> > Bussey, the long-legged countryman, score a goal then? Yeah! Hooray!
> > Hooray for our side!" The old man finished with a roar that made every
> > one turn smilingly to look.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 2:05 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > In a recent episode of the Merriam-Webster podcast "Words Matter,"
> Emily
> > > Brewster mentions that the interjection "yay" has only been dated by
> M-W to
> > > 1963, surprisingly enough. (OED3's earliest cite is from the same
> year.)
> > >
> > >
> https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-matters-podcast/episode-56-compound-words
> > >
> > > On Twitter, Daniel Radosh noted that "yay hooray" appears in the 1954
> Marc
> > > Blitzstein translation of "The Wedding Song" from "The Threepenny
> Opera."
> > > https://twitter.com/danielradosh/status/1441208269112954880
> > >
> > > Inspired by this, I managed to find examples of "yay" collocating with
> > > "hooray" from the 1920s, in Martin Branner's comic strip "Winnie
> Winkle."
> > > In both of these cites, the characters are young children celebrating
> among
> > > themselves.
> > >
> > > ---
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85888992/yay-fellers/
> > > "Winnie Winkle," Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1922, Comics, p. 2
> > > "Yay, fellers! My pop's gonna umpire th' game for us!"
> > > "Hooray for Perry Winkle!"
> > > ---
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85889664/yay-muggsy/
> > > "Winnie Winkle," Kansas City Star, June 13, 1926, Comics, p. 2
> > > "Hooray for Muggsy!"
> > > "Yay - Muggsy won th' game for us!!"
> > > ---
> > >
> > > There are earlier examples of "yay" in comic strips, e.g.:
> > >
> > > ---
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85888914/yay-yay/
> > > "Squirrel Food," Meriden (Conn.) Daily Journal, July 3, 1918, p. 10
> > > "Yay! Yay!"
> > > ---
> > >
> > > ...but that's not clearly a celebratory exclamation like the later
> ones.
> > >
> > > --bgz
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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