Yes is a very old word. It entered English before 900 and comes from the Old English word gese loosely meaning “be it.” Before the 1600s, yes was often used only as an affirmative to a negative question, and yea was used as the all-purpose way to say “yes.”
The English word 'yes' is thought to come from the Old English word 'gēse', meaning 'may it be so', and can be traced back to earlier than the 12th century.
From Old Norse já (“yes”).
From Middle English ye, ȝea, ya, ȝa, from Old English ġēa, iā (“yea, yes”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”), from Proto-Indo-European *yē (“already”).
Egyptian Arabic
From Arabic إي ('ī), أ (ay, “yes”), which only comes after swearing as in إي و ربي /إي و الله, plus و (wa, “and”) + ه h a silent h sometimes added to the end of Arabic words with a stop which omitted the original word الله (allāh, “god”) (originally from ay wa allah shortened to aywa).
The Oxford English Dictionary places the first use of yeah in 1905, one year before yup. Although the first quotation for yup comes from a magazine article, the first quotation for yeah is from an academic journal on American regional dialects.
If you'd like to say “yes” in Swedish, you'd say “ja.” And if you'd like to say “no,” all you need is a simple “nej.”
Tut tut; an expression of disapproval. Hush; be silent.
'Yes' in Japanese is はい (hai), but you often hear わかりました (wakarimashita) which literally means 'I understand' or 'OK, I agree. ' However, in informal situations, it is also acceptable to say OK です (it's OK) and, particularly amongst friends, you can utter ええ (ee).
It (OPA) literally means “to jump” and it's used in many ways to say “bravo”, “WoW”, “all right” or in today's lingo, “You Go”! When a Greek says OPA, they are usually dispensing complements, admiring your zest for life, your dancing or drinking prowess or showing their admiration of a performance.
Yes in French – oui – is pronounced more or less like 'we' in English, and we use it a lot. It's neither formal or informal, it can be used in pretty much any occasion to answer in the affirmative. So, if in doubt, you can always go with “oui” to say yes in French.
If you're responding to someone who has asked you if you would like something or need anything, for example in a restaurant, it's polite to add “takk” after your response of yes or no. “Takk” means “thank you”, so if you'd like to say “yes, please”, the appropriate Norwegian phrasing would be “ja takk”.
In English, dogs “woof”. In Swedish, they “voff” or “vov”, so we can more or less agree on this one.
In Australia, where the phrase has become entrenched in the past six years, “yeah no” can mean anything from “yes, I see that, but can we go back to the earlier topic” to an enthusiastic “yes, I can't reinforce that point enough”.
Old English gea (West Saxon), ge (Anglian) "so, yes," from Proto-Germanic *ja-, *jai-, a word of affirmation (source also of German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish ja), from PIE *yam-, from pronominal stem *i- (see yon). As a noun, "affirmation, affirmative vote," from early 13c. Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to be."
used to express joy, approval, or excitement.