{{short description|Slang term}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} '''''Yas''''' ({{IPAc-en|j|ɑː|s}} {{respell|YAHSS}}), sometimes spelled '''''yass''''', is a playful or facetious slang term equivalent to the excited or celebratory use of the interjection yes. ''Yas'' was added to Oxford Dictionaries in 2017 and defined as a form of exclamation "expressing great pleasure or excitement".<ref name="Hafner">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/27/yas-squad-goals-and-sausage-fest-added-oxford-dictionaries/98477138/|title='Yas,' 'squad goals' and 'sausage fest' added to Oxford Dictionaries|last1=Hafner|first1=Josh|date=February 27, 2017|work=USA Today|access-date=November 17, 2017|publisher=Gannett Company|issn=0734-7456}}</ref> ''Yas'' was defined by Oxygen's Scout Durwood as "a more emphatic 'yes' often paired with 'queen{{'"}}.<ref name="Durwood" /> ''Yas'' can alternatively be spelled with any number of A's and S's in order to increase the grade of excitement<ref name="Durwood">{{cite web|url=http://www.oxygen.com/very-real/7-pop-culture-phrases-that-were-appropriated-from-black-and-gay-culture|title=7 Pop Culture Phrases That Were Appropriated from Black and Gay Culture|last1=Durwood|first1=Scout|date=July 12, 2016|publisher=Oxygen|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref> or add more emphasis.<ref name=":0" /> In other words, the exclamation often appears in the form "Yas, queen!" and sometimes "yaasss!".<ref>{{Citation|title=yaasss|url=https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/yaasss|work=The Free Dictionary|access-date=2021-12-04}}</ref> It is associated with usage by people of the LGBTQ+ community to symbolize excitement or being happy.
== History of the term == The earliest use of the spelling ''yas'' quoted in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is from George Colman the Elder's play ''Spleen'' in 1776: "Rubrick. We'll go in, and prepare the advertisement. Machoof. Yas, we mun invastigate its axcellent faculties."<ref>[https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/231265 Entry 'yas'], Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 8 February 2022</ref> However, this usage is not the modern slang one. Similarly, ''yass'' was used by the character Dean Moriarty (based on Neal Cassady) in Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel ''On the Road''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/books/review/Sante2-t-1.html|title=On the Road: The Original Scroll - Jack Kerouac - Books - Review|last=Sante|first=Luc|newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 August 2007 |access-date=2018-08-02|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=On the Road|last=Kerouac|first=Jack|year=1957}}</ref>
''Yas'' was used by Ragtime era music artists such as Blind Boy Fuller in his songs "Throw Your Yas Yas Back in Jail" (1936) and "Get Your Yas Yas Out" (1938).
''Yas'', with its currently popular meaning and various spelling variants, has roots in late 1980s ball culture, a predominantly black and Latino LGBT subculture in the United States,<ref name="Amatulli">{{cite news|last1=Amatulli|first1=Jenna|title=Here's the Real Origin of the Word 'Yas'|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heres-the-real-origin-of-the-word-yas_us_578ce747e4b0fa896c3f4306|access-date=November 17, 2017|work=HuffPost|date=July 19, 2016}}</ref> and was adopted by the wider LGBTQ/queer community in the 1990s,<ref name="Movement">{{cite news|last1=Carey-Mahoney|first1=Ryan|title='RuPaul's Drag Race' is more than a TV show. It's a movement.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/08/24/rupauls-drag-race-is-more-than-a-tv-show-its-a-movement|access-date=November 17, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 24, 2016|issn=0190-8286|oclc=2269358}}</ref> remaining current into the present.<ref name=":0" /> The term was used during performances by drag queens, as an expression of encouragement and support, and can be heard (pronounced [jæːs]) in the 1990 documentary film ''Paris Is Burning'', which chronicles New York City's ball culture.<ref name="Amatulli" /><ref name="Marine">{{cite journal|last1=Marine|first1=Brooke|title=Frank Ocean Vogued the Night Away with Tyler, the Creator and Joanne the Scammer at His 30th Birthday Party|journal=W|date=October 30, 2017|url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/frank-ocean-30th-birthday-party-tyler-the-creator-joanne-the-scamme|access-date=November 17, 2017|publisher=Condé Nast|issn=0162-9115|oclc=1781845}}</ref>
The expression entered the general public lexicon in the 2010s after being used by a Lady Gaga fan expressing his admiration for the singer's appearance in a viral video, and by Ilana Glazer in ''Broad City''<ref name=":0"/><ref name="Amatulli" /> By 2016, ''yas'' had spurred discussion as to whether its use by white or non-LGBT people constituted cultural appropriation.<ref name="Amatulli" />
The verb ''yassify'' was coined in 2021 as part of an internet meme. To "yassify" an image is to apply AI-based beauty filters 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 screaming in the horror film ''Hereditary''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=O'Neill|first=Shane|date=2021-11-24|title=What Does It Mean to 'Yassify' Anything?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/style/yassify-bot-meme.html|access-date=2021-11-27|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title='Yassification' is a photo-editing trend with a satiric twist to it|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/science-tech/yassification-is-a-photo-editing-trend-with-a-satiric-twist-to-it/cid/1841062|access-date=2021-12-04|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>
==See also== {{Wiktionary|yass}} {{Portal|LGBTQ}} * LGBTQ slang * Slay (slang) * Throw shade (slang)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Ball culture}}
Category:2010s slang Category:Ball culture Category:LGBTQ slang