A random rant and the music to go with it

I have always been slightly annoyed by the inconsistency of usage for the words yea, yay, yeah, yah and ya. Why? I don't know. Apparently I need something silly and innocuous to think about.

And before all my friends get paranoid, I am not offended when the wrong term is used, I am just slightly saddened. Why can't we get this right, English speakers? :)

Here is a definitive clarification of the proper usage of the words (provided by this website):

• Yeah - pronounced ye-uh as in yes
  "Hey Jen, are you going to with us to the mall."- girl a; "Yeah, I’ll go"- girl b

• Yay – rhymes with and is a synonym of hooray. It’s used in cases of excitement.
  "Did I tell you I won an ipod?" – girl a; "No! Oh that is exciting. Yay!" – girl b

• Yah – is also an expression of agreement but there is no excitement.
  "Hey are you ready to go" – girl a; "Yah" – girl b

• Ya – means you
  "How are ya?"
  

• Yea – is a very old-fashioned formal way of saying “yes,” used mainly in voting. It’s the opposite of (and rhymes with) “nay.”
  "All in favor say yea, all opposed nay."

• And if that isn't confusing enough yay can also refer to height, as in "when I was yay big" [holding hand up]

Now for the music part. I recently found an artist that I really enjoy. Her name is Alela Diane. Check her out on Pandora!