yo
/joʊ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.45 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
intj
Present! Here!
Slang
intj
Emphatic conclusion to a statement.
noun
Abbreviation of year(s) old.
Example Sentences
- "Yo Paulie! How's it going?"
- "Yo, check this out!"
- "Check this out, yo!"
- "Yo, that's crazy, but I don't remember asking."
- "I have quickly acclimated myself to the standard form of greeting on campus: "Oh hey what’s your name? … Yeah, nice to meet you, what're you studying? … Yo that’s sick!" A script to recite, nearly verbatim, 10 times a day or more."
- "Sergeant: Smith? Private Smith: Yo!"
Etymology
As a greeting first attested in 1859, attested first as a cry of sailors and huntsmen (first attested in the 1400s; compare e.g. huzzah, giddyup). Originally from Middle English yo, io, ȝo, yeo, yaw, variant forms of ya, ye (“yes, yea”), from Old English ġēa (“yes, yea”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”); or perhaps from Old English ēow (“Wo!, Alas!”, interjection). Compare Danish, Swedish, German, Norwegian jo (“yes (flexible meaning)”), Dutch jow (“hi, hey”) and Dutch jo (“hi, hey”). More at yea, ow, ew. Modern popularity apparently dates from the early 20th century in Philadelphia, PA; amongst the Italian Community there, where io, with (as opposed to in standard Italian language) the stress on the ultima, was a common salutatory response among residents, particularly young males. This usage was apparently reinforced by the aforesaid English terms. It has been claimed to have been a common response at roll calls during World War 2 (see definition 4), and then most intensely attested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it thence spread globally from American dominance of pop culture post-WWII.
Origin
- Source language: Middle English
- First known use: first attested in 1859
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /joʊ/
- British English: /jəʊ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
yoh (alternative, pronunciation spelling)
yo' (alternative)
yos (plural)
yos (present, singular)
yoing (participle, present)
yoed (participle, past)
yoed (past)