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About YA
YA is a valid word in the official Scrabble dictionary (US), the UK Scrabble Dictionary and Words with Friends (ENABLE).
(pronoun)
More about YA
Definition: Slang for “you.”
Fans of vintage TV sitcoms may still harbor childhood memories of the ex-convict on “Green Acres,” banging his tin cup on the dinner table and yelling, “I ain’t gonna eat this slop! Ya, ya, ya!” But in actual, non-sitcom usage, “YA” is a word that most of us use every day without even thinking about it.
You’ll typically hear YA used in the phrase “See ya later!” or “See ya!” However, with our modern fondness for dropping consonants, vowels and sometimes entire syllables when we speak, we actually use YA a lot more often than we think we do. In fact, we even use abbreviations for YA (“Whatcha doin’?”).
While you might think of YA as classic American slang, its origins are actually British. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, YA as slang for “you” (or in this case, “your”) was first recorded in an 1824 volume entitled “The Craven Dialect” by William Carr. The reference is part of a dialect definition of the word “random,” which reads:
“To be in a straight line or direction, ‘let ya fence random wi’ tother.’”
Ways to use YA in a sentence:
- “How ya doin’?”
- “Where ya goin’?”
- “Are ya comin’ to the party tonight?”