Where Y’at?

Informant: Brian Flint, age 23, Metairie, LA. Collected on May 22, 2016 and recorded on iphone.

Verbal Lore: folk speech, slang

English

United States of America

Context- a phrase which means both where are you going/ where are you and how are you doing?

Transcript:

“ The next one is the Expression ‘Where y’at?’ that’s ‘where Y-‘-A-T ‘ as in ‘where are you?’ and it evolved more from a expression for where your location is to  how you are doing as a person and it’s so prevalent that the term ‘Yat’ became synonymous with a New Orleans Accent. Even more so, there is a Christmas album called the twelve yats of Christmas which are indicative of – it’s a parody of the twelve nights of Christmas. It’s a popular cd around.”

Collectors commentary: The phrase is slang because it is a common phrase that has developed into a new orleans slang word because of the accent in the region and a tendancy of exxagerating interesting characteristics, like accents, when pronouncing words. It is unique to new orleans because it is a product of the New Orleans accent. See Yat for more on the accent and the people who have the accent.

Keywords: Where y’at?, how are you?, New Orleans