yayo

• yeyo, yay

From Spanish llello.

• IPA^(key): /ˈjeɪ.oʊ/

yayo (uncountable)

1. (US, slang) cocaine
   • 1983, “Rush, Rush”, in Deborah Harry, Giorgio Moroder (lyrics), Scarface, performed by Debbie Harry, Universal Music Publishing Group:

     Rush-rush to the yayo; buzz-buzz give me yayo.

   • 2004, Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz (Jonathan Mortimer Smith), "Grand Finale" (rap song)

     We yayo experts, we been whippin' the yola / Since the crackas decided to take the coke from Coca-Cola.

   • 2009, Christine A. Nandi, The ABC's of Raising a Successful Student, page 7:

     They just spend their time sniffing up the yayo.

   • 2012, Lana Del Rey, Yayo:

     Need you like a baby when I hold you Like a druggie, like I told you Yayo, yeah, you Yayo

• See also Thesaurus:cocaine.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝaʝo/
• Syllabification: ya‧yo
• Rhymes: -aʝo

yayo m (plural yayos, feminine yaya, feminine plural yayas)

1. grandpa

• “abuelo”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)
• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “yayo”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

From yaya +‎ Spanish -o, with the root from Philippine Spanish yaya (“nanny; nursemaid”), from Spanish yaya (“granny”). Compare Tagalog yayo, Catalan iaio, Aragonese yayo.

yayo

1. (often humorous) a male nanny; manny; male caregiver/caretaker

yayo

1. (often humorous) to work or act as a manny

Unknown origin, perhaps from whimsical slang by youth. A prevailing theory, given the term's ultimate origin in Aragon and Catalan-speaking territories, is derivation from Catalan jajo (“grandpa”). It seems the first form generated was *jaja (“grandma”), from which the masculine form was derived. This would come from Catalan avia (“grandmother”) (from Latin avia), and from juvenile palatalization would generate something like *ai̯a. The common phenomenon of syllabic repetition in children's language (cf. papa, baba, etc.) would then cause the form jaja above, which would then be spread into Spanish and masculinized.

Otherwise, perhaps masculinized from Greek γιαγιά (giagiá, “grandmother”).

• Rhymes: -aʝo
• Syllabification: ya‧yo

yayo m (plural yayos)

1. (chiefly Spain, Catalonia, informal) grandpa, pops

• “yayo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

From yaya +‎ Spanish -o, with the root from Philippine Spanish yaya (“nanny; nursemaid”), from Spanish yaya (“granny”). Compare Cebuano yayo, Catalan iaio, Aragonese yayo.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈjajo/ [ˈjaː.jo]
• Rhymes: -ajo
• Syllabification: ya‧yo

yayo (feminine yaya, Baybayin spelling ᜌᜌᜓ)

1. (often humorous) male nanny; manny; male caregiver/caretaker