yessum

English

WOTD – 11 July 2024

Etymology

Contraction of yes, ma’am.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈjɛs(ə)m/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsəm
• Hyphenation: yes‧sum

Contraction

yessum (informal)

2. (US, dialectal, dated) Used to express agreement with a woman (and, somewhat less commonly, a man): yes, ma'am.

   Antonym: no'm

   Coordinate terms: yessir, yessuh, yessiree, yessirree; nosuh, nossuh

   • 1905 September, Harry Persons Taber, “The Crutch”, in William Elliott Lowes, editor, Book of the Royal Blue, volume VIII, number 12, Baltimore, Md.: Passenger Department, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, →OCLC, page 24, column 1:

     "I would like to sit down in your shade beside you," said the Tall Man. "Yassum," said the Little Bit of a Girl. […] "Why do you have the crutch?" asked the Tall Man presently. "Yassum, the crutch, the doctor he gave it to me, yassum," said the Little Bit of a Girl.

   • 1929, William Faulkner, “April 7, 1928”, in “The Sound and the Fury”, in The Sound and the Fury & As I Lay Dying, New York, N.Y.: The Modern Library, published 1946, →OCLC, page 74:

     "Yessum." Luster said. "We coming. You done played hell. Get up." He jerked my arm and I got up.

   • 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, part 1, page 32:

     Little Chuck's face contracted and he said gently, "You mean him [a louse], ma'am? Yessum, he's alive. Did he scare you some way?" / Miss Caroline said desperately, "I was just walking by when it crawled out of his hair … just crawled out of his hair—"

3. (Australia) Alternative form of yes.

Usage notes

Sense 1 was formerly often used to represent African-American speech, and is now sometimes used to refer to stereotypes of African-American submissiveness.

Alternative forms

• yassum, yas'm, yes'm

Translations

(informal) used to express agreement with a woman

• Finnish: kyllä rouva
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: ja fröken

alternative form of yes — see yes