''Yas'' is a playful or non-serious

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

term equivalent to the excited or celebratory use of the

interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing many different parts of speech, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curse ...

"yes!", carrying

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

cultural associations. ''Yas'' was added to Oxford Dictionaries in 2017 and defined as a form of exclamation "expressing great pleasure or excitement". ''Yas'' was defined by

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

's Scout Durwood as "a more emphatic 'yes' often paired with 'queen'." ''Yas'' can alternatively be spelled with any number of A's and S's in order to increase the grade of excitement or add more emphasis. In other words, the exclamation often appears in the form "Yas,

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

!" and with spelling variants such as "yaas!" or "yaasss!"

History of the term

The earliest use of the spelling ''yas'' quoted in the

OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

is from

George Colman the Elder George Colman (April 1732 – 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the Younger. He also owned a theatre. Early life H ...

's play ''Spleen'' in 1776: "Rubrick. We'll go in, and prepare the advertisement. Machoof. Yas, we mun invastigate its axcellent faculties." However, this usage is not the modern slang one. Similarly, ''yass'' was used by the character Dean Moriarty (based on

Neal Cassady Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960s. He was prominently featured as himself in the "scroll" (first d ...

) in

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

's 1957 novel ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonis ...

''. ''Yas'', with its currently popular meaning and various spelling variants, has roots in late 1980s

ball culture The Ballroom Scene (also known as the Ballroom community, Ballroom culture, or just Ballroom) is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture that originated in New York City. Beginning in the late 20th century, Black and Latino ...

, a predominantly Black and Latino

subculture in the United States, and was adopted by the wider

community in the 1990s, remaining current into the present. The term was used during performances by

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

s, as an expression of encouragement and support, and can be heard (pronounced æːs in the 1990 documentary film ''

Paris Is Burning Paris Is Burning may refer to: * ''Paris Is Burning'' (film), a 1990 documentary film * "Paris Is Burning" (''Gilmore Girls''), the eleventh episode of ''Gilmore Girls first season * "Paris Is Burning", a song from the 1983 album '' Breaking the Ch ...

'', which chronicles New York City's ball culture. The expression entered the general public lexicon in the 2010s after being used by a

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

fan expressing his admiration for the singer's appearance in a viral video, and by

Ilana Glazer Ilana Glazer (born April 12, 1987) is an American comedian, director, producer, writer, and actress. She co-created and co-starred, with Abbi Jacobson, in the Comedy Central series ''Broad City'', which is based on the web series of the same name ...

in ''

Broad City ''Broad City'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. It was developed from their independent web series of the same name, which was produced between 2009 and 2011. The sitcom, like the web series ...

'' (there pronounced ɑːsand ʌs. By 2016, ''yas'' had spurred discussion as to whether its use by White or non-LGBT people constituted

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

. The verb ''

yassify ''Yas'' is a playful or non-serious slang term equivalent to the excited or celebratory use of the interjection "yes!", carrying LGBT or queer cultural associations. ''Yas'' was added to Oxford Dictionaries in 2017 and defined as a form of excl ...

'' was coined in 2021 as part of an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

. To "yassify" an image is to apply AI-based

beauty filters A beauty filter is a filter applied to still photographs, or to video in real time, to enhance the physical attractiveness of the subject. Typical effects of such filters include smoothing skin texture and modifying the proportions of facial fea ...

to an extreme extent, with humorous results. Image yassification became a meme on Twitter and other social media, particularly when applied to incongruous subjects such as historic works of art, or a frame of actress

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...

screaming in the horror film ''

Hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

''.

References

{{Ball culture 2010s slang Ball culture LGBT slang

History of the term

See also

References