# Is 'yea big' common in your area? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077 "2007-01-15T16:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/21 "2007-01-16T02:56:41Z")
I hear and use “'bout yay big” “'bout so big” and “'bout that big” pretty equally. Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/22 "2007-01-16T16:30:01Z")
It’s still in use around here. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/23 "2007-01-16T17:11:23Z")
Heard it all my life (43 years), as a kid in Arkansas and an adult in Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/24 "2007-01-16T17:42:55Z")
It’s in Wisconsin, but I can’t account for anybody under 30 using it. I never used the term. I always said “It’s this big.” and use the hand gesture. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/25 "2007-01-16T19:16:01Z")
Common back home in New Brunswick (Canada), and while I still use it often here, I can’t say that I’ve heard anyone actually use it. However, no one has ever raised any question as to the meaning when I have used it, and it seems, in context, to be readily understood by most. Even my Czech manager hasn’t raised a question when I use it with her, though I do see a note of puzzlement in her eyes, she still _gets_ it, and hasn’t asked me yet what it means - she just pauses. She usually writes that stuff down if she doesn’t get it. This leads me to believe she’s heard it from someone other than me, though probably not often. It’s common back home (and for myself) to shorten it when describing something quickly, using your hands and saying, “'bout yay”, without the “big” attached, and it still gets the point across. “About yay big” or “yay tall” is still very commonly used, however. This is coming from someone who thought “had the biscuit” was universally known, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/26 "2007-01-16T21:41:53Z")
I’ve heard it frequently around here, always with “about.” It’s always about dimensions that your hands can illustrate. It’s never “about yay stupid.” Be sure to look at both of the speaker’s hands, though. I’ve seen fishermen use the yay big gesture to show the size of a fish, but one hand was making a thumb-to-finger yay big to show a much smaller fish. 😃 Yay high is usually a one-handed gesture. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/27 "2007-01-17T00:59:44Z")
It’s used here, but I can’t figure out if I use it or not. It’s the sort of thing I would tend to use. Yea big/high/tall. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/28 "2007-01-17T01:01:27Z")
I should have defined “here.” SE Ohio. Husband from Kentucky heard it while growing up, too. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077/29 "2007-01-17T01:46:21Z")
I googled around a bit and found it spelled “yea” (I was unsure). For example, this bit is from an article called “using indexicals” by a John Perry: > [@John Perry](#): > > One might say, holding one’s hands a foot apart, ‘‘The bass was yea big,’’ or holding one’s hand a couple of feet off the ground, ‘‘Her dog was yea big.’’ I never heard of an “indexical” before. To answer the OP, I’ve heard it off an on all my life (southern usa). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-yea-big-common-in-your-area/388077.md?page=1)