Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yada yada yada

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.21 in modern English

Syllables
yada yada ya-da
IPA
24
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
3
Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

And so on; and so forth.

American usage

phrase

Blah blah blah.

American usage

verb

To give little attention or treatment to; to gloss over; to give short shrift to.

American usage; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

Probably influenced by (or perhaps an alteration of) yatter or yatata; perhaps onomatopoeic of blather; or perhaps derived from the Norwegian expression jada, jada which has a similar pronunciation and interpretation. Sometimes popularly attributed to Yiddish, but this is dismissed by etymologists. "Yatter, yatter" is British (specifically Scots) English for "continuous chatter, rambling and persistent talk, nagging". S. R. Crockett, The Men of the Moss-Hags (1895) xxix: "The woman's yatter, yatter easily vexed me." Yadder is a Cumberland word meaning "to talk incessantly; to chatter". Various variant forms appear in the US 1940s–60s; for example, the 1947 American musical Allegro by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers contains a song called “Yatata, Yatata, Yatata,” about cocktail party chatter; see talk page for additional citations. The phrase "yadda yadda" was first popularized by the comedian Lenny Bruce in his standup bit "Father Flotsky's Triumph," the closing track on his 1961 album "Lenny Bruce - American." It appeared on television in 1993 in the sitcom "Frasier" (Season 4 Episode 12) when Niles and Frasier are having a conversation seen from a dog's point of view. The phrase gained renewed popularity in the US in the late 1990s on the television show Seinfeld, where it appears as a catchphrase, initially in Season 8, Episode 19, entitled “The Yada Yada”, originally aired on April 24, 1997, which centers on the phrase (in the duplicative “yada yada” form).

Usage

Inflected Forms

yada, yada, yada (alternative) yadda yadda yadda (alternative) yadda, yadda, yadda (alternative) yadi-yadi-ya (alternative) yadi yadi yada (alternative) yada yada yadas (present, singular) yada yada yadaing (participle, present) yada yada yadaed (participle, past) yada yada yadaed (past) yada yada yada'd (participle, past) yada yada yada'd (past)

Synonyms

and so forth and so on and what have you and whatnot

Questions

What does yada yada yada mean?
And so on; and so forth.
Where does yada yada yada come from?
Probably influenced by (or perhaps an alteration of) yatter or yatata; perhaps onomatopoeic of blather; or perhaps derived from the Norwegian expression jada, jada which has a similar pronunciation and interpretation. Sometimes popularly attributed to Yiddish, but this is dismissed by etymologists. "Yatter, yatter" is British (specifically Scots) English for "continuous chatter, rambling and persistent talk, nagging". S. R. Crockett, The Men of the Moss-Hags (1895) xxix: "The woman's yatter, yatter easily vexed me." Yadder is a Cumberland word meaning "to talk incessantly; to chatter". Various variant forms appear in the US 1940s–60s; for example, the 1947 American musical Allegro by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers contains a song called “Yatata, Yatata, Yatata,” about cocktail party chatter; see talk page for additional citations. The phrase "yadda yadda" was first popularized by the comedian Lenny Bruce in his standup bit "Father Flotsky's Triumph," the closing track on his 1961 album "Lenny Bruce - American." It appeared on television in 1993 in the sitcom "Frasier" (Season 4 Episode 12) when Niles and Frasier are having a conversation seen from a dog's point of view. The phrase gained renewed popularity in the US in the late 1990s on the television show Seinfeld, where it appears as a catchphrase, initially in Season 8, Episode 19, entitled “The Yada Yada”, originally aired on April 24, 1997, which centers on the phrase (in the duplicative “yada yada” form).

How to pronounce yada yada yada

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “yada yada yada”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “yada yada yada”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “yada yada yada” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.