Alphabetical Entries: Y
24 entries found.
yachting skills/techniques/proficiency, yacht sailing techniques.
because this personal name for God is not gender-specific, it has been used by groups seeking inclusive terms. However, observant Jews neither use nor speak this sacred word, and out of respect for this belief system, many non-Jews have chosen to forego its use also. Jews use instead "Ha-Shem" ("The Name"). Jews also refer to God as "Adonai," "Lord," and "Eloheinu"—but never "Jehovah." See also Father (God), God (Christian), Jehovah.
a positive term today when used to refer to New Englanders, Yankee was originally derogatory and is still occasionally used that way in other countries to refer to the United States ("Yankees, go home"). During the Civil War, it referred to any Northerner; traces of this antagonism can sometimes be heard in it today. During World War II, however, Yankee and Yanks were a positive term. Like all shortened forms, Yank is otherwise disparaging; Yanqui is the Spanish-language term sometimes used as an epithet. Yankee also has some negative overtones of cleverness verging on sharp practices.
yard worker/laborer, caretaker, odd-job laborer; gardener, landscaper; yard supervisor/chief; stockyard handler/laborer; railroad worker.
according to The American Heritage Book of English Usage, "Of the color terms used as racial labels, yellow, referring to Asians, is perhaps the least used and the most clearly offensive." Yellow has also been used to single out Jews: in some countries during the Holocaust, they were forced to wear a yellow badge; the Nazis required yellow stars. The color has also been associated with cowardice. See also high yellow, etc., yellow/yellow-bellied, Yellow Peril.
this term, expressing turn-of-the-century fear of being overrun by peoples from the East, is rarely seen today. In discussing it historically, use quotation marks to show the dubiousness of the concept.
wholly reserved for boys/men, these insults indirectly discount girls/women (who have not been expected—or indeed often allowed—to accept challenges that call for courage, bravery, or risk-taking) and hold men/boys to impossibly high, dubious, and constantly shifting standards of courage. Boys/men are acculturated to be sensitive to taunts of "coward." Most people would not use these terms; they are included here to show the cultural bias that expects too much of men and too little of women. See also coward/cowardly/cowardice.
this Yiddish word for a constantly talking, meddling, or scolding woman is defined fairly negatively (synonyms include "gossip" and "blabbermouth"), but few people hear it that way today—partly because it's not commonly used as an epithet, perhaps partly because of the Barbra Streisand movie Yentl, and partly because the yenta has a good heart. For inclusive alternatives, see gossip.
this is difficult to replace; consider making up your own metaphor or using impressive/remarkable/extraordinary/outstanding/valiant/heroic/superexcellent/first-class/bang-up/a-number-one job, massive/enormous effort.
some of these terms have historical (yeoman, yeomanry, yeoman's service) or official (Yeoman of the Guard, yeoman) meanings that defy substitution, but others can be variously replaced: retainer, attendant; military corps personnel attached to the British royal household; smallholding/freeholding farmer, smallholder, freeholder; petty officer, clerical officer; clerk, paralegal, typist, copyist, transcriber; helper; beefeater, warden, bodyguard. See also yeoman's job.
yea-sayer, toady, rubber stamp, sycophant, flunky, puppet, stooge, dupe, brown-noser, apple polisher, bootlicker, backscratcher, flatterer, hanger-on, follower, doormat, tool, minion, myrmidon; an obsequious underling.
offensive slang, from Yiddish, but one that is sometimes used by Jews themselves. See also shortened forms of words.
woman or man. Indians call the woman a "yogini."
this disparaging, anti-rural, usually classist term is also functionally sexist, as it is almost always used for a man.
when you point to "that guy over there," everyone expects (rightly) to see a man. Singular guy is an all right word, limping a little only in that its natural mate, gal, doesn't have nearly the use, standing, or linguistic influence that guy does. The problem arises when "you guys" refers to mixed-gender groups or groups consisting entirely of women. Many people use "you guys," maintaining that the term is functionally inclusive, and it's fast becoming part of standard language in all but the most formal speech. (A Harvard survey of North American dialects found "you guys" the default expression of choice in all U.S. regions but one. Others vehemently object to its use. Audrey Bilger (in Bitch) says, "Calling women 'guys' makes femaleness invisible. It says that man—as in a male person—is still the measure of all things." Alice Walker asks, "Isn't it at least ironic that after so many years of struggle for women's liberation, women should end up calling themselves this?" Advice? Avoid it in writing. In speech, know your friends — who is okay with it, who is not. We haven't heard the last of this. Language usage is determined by the speakers of it; keep an open mind about this term. Alternatives, besides the simple "you": y'all, you all, folks, people; hey, people/peeps, hey everyone, hey team/crew, hey, friends.
this phrase is not so much objectionable—although it is that too—as it is a galloping indication of the speaker's feelings (hostile, disparaging, shaming) about "those people" (a companion term). Vivian Gornick once wrote ("On the Progress of Feminism"), "If I hear 'you people' just once more...!"
although this phrase looks gender-free, it has been so profoundly associated with a cigarette advertisement aimed at helping women catch up to men's lung cancer and cardiac death rates that "baby" is assumed to be female. In addition, it is generally women who have been called endearments that make of them babies, babes, girls, and other young, helpless dependents. If you want to defeminize it, men's groups have been known to use: "You've come a long way, Bubba!" It's also being used simply without the baby.
young woman. See lady.
female or male. When used of a child, it is respectful and correct if somewhat less common today than it used to be. When used jocularly to refer to or to address older people, it is rarely received jocularly.
male or female. The term "youth" for young people aged 13 to 19 sounds slightly clinical and in the singular usually means a young man (the plural "youth" is understood to be inclusive). You may want to use young person, young adult. The gender-, classist-, and ethnic-neutral term "youth" has been used in all the school shootings to describe the middle-class or upper-middle-class white males who did the killing, thus concealing the real connotations. Yet when there's a shooting by African Americans they are always identified as Black. In the same way, in some killings of "youth," the victims have all been girls. It's important to know who's doing what to whom; don't let the use of youth obscure critical information. See also adolescent, ageism, juvenile, teenager.
from Young Urban Professional, yuppie has the usual defects of a facile label: imprecision, thoughtless and unsupported usage, and a distancing from the reality and humanity of those being tagged. Although the term sounds flattering, it implies a materialistic, egocentric approach to life and fails the self-naming test: rarely has anyone announced with genuine pride, "I am a yuppie." Use it with care, naming the characteristics you're singling out. See also buppie/Buppie.