YO
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
yo¹
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
Where it comes from
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.
interjection yoh
- A greeting similar to hi. Yo Paulie! How's it going?
- An interjection similar to hey. Yo, check this out!
- An expression of surprise or excitement. Yo, that's crazy, but I don't remember asking.
- Present! Here! Sergeant: Smith? Private Smith: Yo!
- Emphatic conclusion to a statement. JESSE: That is messed up, yo.
yo²
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
Where it comes from
From a non-rhotic pronunciation of your.
determiner yo' · yoh
- Pronunciation spelling of your.your Yo sandwich has only bacon in it. Want some ketchup on that?
yo³
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
Where it comes from
Ellipsis of such phrases as your friend/buddy, your brother/sister, your mom/dad, etc., referring to someone (whether present or absent, male or female) who is related to the interlocutor in some way. All such forms were then shortened to your (pronounced [joʊ], "yo", which see above). Eventually, the original meaning "your [someone]" was lost and broadened to "that person".
pronoun yoh
- Generic third-person singular pronoun (primarily used in place of he and she). Is dat yo mama? What's yo doin' in here??
yo⁴
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
noun yoh
- Abbreviation of year(s) old.year(s) old
- Initialism of yarn over.yarn over
yo⁵
- /jɒ/
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
Where it comes from
From Russian ё (jo).
noun yos · yoh
- The name of the letter Ё/ё in Cyrillic alphabets.
yo⁶
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
number yoh
- Clipping of yoleven.yoleven
yo⁷
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
Where it comes from
From irregular romanization of the standard Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 龠 (yuè).
noun yo · yos · yoh
- Obsolete form of yue, a traditional Chinese unit of volume.yue
yo⁸
- /jəʊ/ UK
- /joʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
YO⁹
phrase
- Abbreviation of years old.years old
proper noun
- Initialism of the Special Region of Yogyakarta: a province of Indonesia.the Special Region of Yogyakarta
noun
- Abbreviation of yarnover.yarnover
- A technique in which the yarn is passed over the right-hand needle. In general, the new loop is knitted on the next row, either by itself (producing a hole) or together with an adjacent stitch.
verb YOs · YOing · YOed
- Abbreviation of yarnover.yarnover
- To make a yarnover.
