Is 'yeah' a proper word?

Guest   Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:17 am GMT
Seems to be an almost ubiquitous pronunciation but it is often looked down as an improper or vulgar form in writing.
Johnny   Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:14 pm GMT
It depends what you mean by proper. It's definitely ok in casual writing.
Guest   Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:54 pm GMT
My question should be...do you ever think it will be accepted as a word in it's right and not just considered as a colloquial variant of 'yes'.
Guest   Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:13 pm GMT
I prefer YUP
Johnny   Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:23 pm GMT
Can't a colloquial variant of "yes" be a proper word? Yeah is already a word, it's listed in the dictionary. Yup is word too. And it seems AW is a word too, although AWWWW with lots of Ws is not, if you only consider words that are in standard dictionaries. Otherwise, LOL can be considered a word too. But ajssoybcquffes is not a word.
Guest   Sat Jul 19, 2008 3:34 pm GMT
But do you agree there is still a bias against the use of the word? It's still considered somewhat vulgar in formal writing and speech even though it's usage is extremely widespread. Kind of like 'gonna' as a contraction of 'going to'.
Skippy   Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:18 pm GMT
Yeah it is.
Guest   Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:13 pm GMT
yep
Amabo   Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:32 pm GMT
Depends entirely on what you mean by "proper."

Do you really mean to ask whether "yeah" is a real word?

The answer to that is: of course it is.
guest   Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:34 am GMT
<<Is 'yeah' a proper word?>>

Yeah
Russconha   Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:47 am GMT
<<<Is 'yeah' a proper word?>>

Yeah >

Nah.
Guest   Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:28 am GMT
<<Do you really mean to ask whether "yeah" is a real word?
>>

you have to read the original question and also the clarifying post. The original Guest says this is a vulgar word. To many of us who learn English like this Guest we think its a lazy word because it comes off with the mouth very open. Guest means he is offended when he hears the word but wants to know if people in English speaking countries who speak English frm birth also understands 'yeah' when they hear it and do they know its a vulgar word. It means you have a bias when you say this word. We hear 'yeah' in movies but i don't know it insults people or sounds bias to hear it until now, but i'm glad i read it! thank you!
guest2   Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:34 am GMT
1. 'Yeah' is a real word.

2. Of course it's colloquial, and you're not likely to find it much in formal writing, except for dialogue, or quotes, or for effect.

3. In the spoken language, it sounds casual, but totally normal. And there are certain situations where using 'yes' in conversation might sound a little too formal.
guest   Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:44 pm GMT
<,To many of us who learn English like this Guest we think its a lazy word because it comes off with the mouth very open.>>

Well, yeah, it's a lazy word. It's a corruption of 'yea' meaning, well, "yea"/"yes" but spoken informally
Guest   Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:53 pm GMT
<Well, yeah, it's a lazy word. It's a corruption of 'yea' meaning, well, "yea"/"yes" but spoken informally >

Probably it is also related to German 'ja'. Has 'yeah' been in English use long enough to have direct relationship to German 'ja'? Or did 'yeah' develop long after the split from the common German/English ancestor?