Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Silis]

Hello everybody,
I would like to know why there is YEP and NAY on US parlament voting board instead of the standard "YES" and "NO". I thought these expressions were colloquial and would not expect them on the official place like that... Or IS IT standard in US English? Thank you very much for your answer.

Or is it AYE instead of YEP? I have not seen it on CNN myself, one of my colleagues did. Then it would probably have some historical background, right?

[Lorikeet]

I can't believe you would have seen "yep" but "aye" makes a lot of sense. "aye" and "nay" are sometimes used, and are more formal, in my mind.

[LucentShade]

Also, you might see "yea" (pronounced like "yay") in place of aye or yes--if you did see "yep," it might be CNN's way of making it easier for all the English-speakers who don't know what "aye" means

By the way, the US has a Congress, not a Parliament; there is a difference.