Yo 275235 225952314 2008-07-16T04:37:01Z Useight 2910303 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/65.11.88.95|65.11.88.95]] to last version by 61.8.8.94 (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{cleanup-rewrite}} {{clear}} {{Cleanup|date=September 2006}} {{otheruses}}{{otheruses|your}} {{wiktionary}} "'''''Yo'''''" is an [[United States|American]] [[English language|English]] [[slang]] [[interjection]]. It was highly popularized after being commonly used among [[Italian American]]s and [[African American]]s in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="flappers2rappers">{{cite book | last=Dalzell | first=Tom | title=Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang | year=1996 | publisher=Merriam Webster | location=Springfield, Massachusetts |isbn=0-87779-612-2}}</ref> ==Usage== Although often used as a [[greeting]], like the word "hey", it has a wide range of other meanings that depend on the tone, context, and situation. *"Yo" is often used in the [[Southern United States]] as a substitute for the response "Here" to acknowledge one's presence during a [[roll call]].<ref> [http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9309c&L=linguist&O=D&P=3895 4.736 Etymologies: Ok, Yo, Uhuh - LISTSERV Linguist List, 21 Sep 1993]</ref> *"Yo" has also come to be used as an [[exclamation]] at the end of a sentence, either to direct focus onto a particular individual or group, ''"That girl is really hot, yo"'', or to strengthen meaning to a particular point, ''"This hot dog is good, yo!"''. The [[Japanese language]] sentence-final particle ''"yo"'' has approximately the same meaning, but is [[etymology|etymologically]] unrelated. *According to the non-fiction book [[Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets]], "Yo" was a derogatory term for a young black man used by the Baltimore Homicide Department. A young black woman was referred to as a Yo-ette. * Also used as an affirmative or "Yes" response by members of the headphone mafia and other inner city youth. ===Unrelated terms=== In addition to the unrelated [[Japanese language]] sentence-final particle ''"[[Yo (kana)|yo]]"'', there are several other unrelated [[homophones]] or [[homographs]] of '''yo''' which have different meanings and [[etymologies]]. * In the [[Spanish language]], the word for the [[first person]] personal pronoun ''[[I (pronoun)|I]]'' is "yo", but this is completely unrelated to the modern colloquial English [[morpheme]] '''yo'''. The Spanish pronoun "yo", the English pronoun "I" and others such as French "je", German "ich" and Latin "ego" all derive from a [[Proto Indo-European]] [[Proto-Indo-European_pronouns#Personal_pronouns|pronoun]] ''eǵ''. * The English [[Grammatical person|second person]] [[possessive pronoun]] ''your'' is often pronounced in truncated form, such as ''yo'' or ''ya''. This usage has been popularized by the many [[the dozens|dozens]] jokes and snaps that begin with "Yo momma...". These jokes have spread from the urban African American community and now relatively widespread throughout the English-speaking world, taking along this pronunciation of "[[your]]" with it. ==References== <references/> [[Category:Italian American history]] [[Category:Culture of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] [[it:Yo (slang)]] [[nl:Yo]]