# Aussies: Ending a statement with "yeah?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693 "2014-08-16T17:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/1 "2014-08-16T17:01:22Z")
Maybe it’s not just Aussies, because I’ve seen them do this on Orphan Black which is a Canadian show. But anyway, someone will make a statement and then follow it with a “Yeah?” prompting a response from the person being addressed. For example: “You’re going to have to study harder if you expect to get your grades up. Yeah?” Is this “Yeah” thing relatively new or have I just been oblivious to it until now? ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/2 "2014-08-16T18:20:11Z")
I was being given a breakdown of an upcoming tour by an Australian tour guide and she said “Yeah?” after every sentence, about 15 times in a row. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/3 "2014-08-16T22:55:53Z")
It’s not that new. A decade or so at least, yeah? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/4 "2014-08-16T23:59:03Z")
In Canada the classic “eh” is going away, being replace by “right?”. > **[National Post](https://nationalpost.com/category/news/)** > > Read the latest breaking news in Canada and the rest of the world. We bring all of today's top headlines and stories to your fingertips. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/5 "2014-08-17T00:34:01Z")
A lot of English people do this as well. Just watch a few old episodes of _The Bill_. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/6 "2014-08-17T00:37:07Z")
Gordon Ramsey does this on Kitchen Nightmares. He’ll make a statement and end it with “yes?” ---
**Author:** ![Cognoscant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Cognoscant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cognoscant)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/7 "2014-08-17T02:11:44Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > It’s not that new. A decade or so at least, yeah? An Aussie girl who I had a massive crush on was doing it 15 years ago so…yeah. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/8 "2014-08-17T02:19:11Z")
I have honestly never noticed it, and I think I would, in the circles in which I move. I will now be vigilant. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/9 "2014-08-17T02:32:03Z")
Definitely a British thing as well. Was it done much on _Orphan Black_ by people who didn’t have an English accent? ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/10 "2014-08-17T02:45:17Z")
That’s weird, I have never noticed it, but I tried a couple of sentences and it rolls off my tongue very naturally. So maybe I do say it all the time, without realising:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/11 "2014-08-17T10:26:22Z")
It’s an alternative to saying “amiright?” at the end of sentences (and equally as irritating, IMHO). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/12 "2014-08-17T10:33:21Z")
Not particularly a Melbourne thing: I thought maybe it was an NZ / Islander thing, but I guess maybe it’s a Q’ld / NSW thing? And of course probably a younger thing, but the High School /University / Graduates I know personally aren’t using that construct either. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/13 "2014-08-17T12:51:41Z")
One day in, not one person I have spoken to today ended even one sentence with “yeah.” ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/14 "2014-08-17T13:09:48Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Is this “Yeah” thing relatively new or have I just been oblivious to it until now? Definitely not new, and as others have noted, it is something UK people do as well. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/15 "2014-08-17T14:06:02Z")
I don’t hear that much in the circles I travel in. Maybe it’s only certain social groups, or a regional thing. I’m not sure what motivates these vocabulary tics and phrases to arise, but it seems to be all part of the standard way dialects develop. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/16 "2014-08-17T15:07:14Z")
I have also noticed this on Orphan Black but only the character of Sarah does it I think. I assumed it was an affectation used to identify Sarah specifically (for those that don’t watch the show has several characters that are clones of each other). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/17 "2014-08-17T15:57:13Z")
I heard this more when i lived in England than i did in Australia, although i know some Aussies who do it. I don’t remember ever hearing it in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/18 "2014-08-19T11:47:08Z")
I’d never heard of it before. The usual ending of a sentence in rural Queensland was always “,hey”. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/19 "2014-08-19T14:09:53Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I’d never heard of it before. The usual ending of a sentence in rural Queensland was always “,hey”. This. I grew up in small towns in North Queensland, and took me a long time to get the ‘hey’ off the end of my sentences after moving to the ‘big smoke’ I personally would have attributed a ‘yeah’ ending to be a British thing. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-ending-a-statement-with-yeah/695693/20 "2014-08-19T15:33:30Z")
I noticed this when Ricky Gervais did it as David in the British version of _The Office_. It was particularly noticeable in the episode [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXytRC0k-K8) at the very start, though he throws in a few “hey’s” as well. After watching a few of his episodes I found myself saying it while teaching (in the US) and it’s a hard habit to break.