Yee-yaw
In Southern and Appalachian speech, "yee-yaw" means crooked, out of kilter, or off balance. It’s a colorful way to say something isn’t lined up straight, much like sigogglin or cattywampus.
synonyms: crooked, askew, off-kilter, sigogglin, cattywampus
Hillbilly Dude Says...
I've only read 'yee-yaw'- I'm gonna assume its more regional. Pronunciation
[YEE-YAW] /ˈjiː.jɑː/
Meaning & Usage
- Crooked, off-kilter (adjective)
Clara:
Does that look level to you?
Does that look level to you?
Elmer:
No, it’s all yee-yaw on the left side.
No, it’s all yee-yaw on the left side.variations: gee-yaw, yeehaw
Origin
From Southern and Appalachian dialect speech. Related to the old mule-driving commands "gee" (right) and "haw" or "yaw" (left), shouted by farmers when plowing with draft animals. Over time, the sound-pattern gee/yaw → yee-yaw came to describe anything that was out of true, askew, or off balance.
Notes
- Strongly tied to Appalachian/Southern rural speech; not widely used outside the region.
- Often applied to posts, shelves, or anything visibly crooked.
- Closely related in meaning to sigogglin and cattywampus.