Glossary of American English Hacker Theocratese

=== Y ===

yard sale

See {garage sale}.

ye [obs]

See {common archaisms}.

Yearbook

The publication: Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses. When cited, the title is often preceded by the current year number. Referring to ``the Yearbook'' without a year means the one for the current year. Until about 1985, this book and the annual publication that is now called Examining the Scriptures Daily were published under one cover. They were separated, allowing the {daily text} book to be published in a compact soft cover, making it more convenient to carry to meetings for field service and elsewhere. <<Each year the annual world report and the history of the progress of the work in various countries are published in the Yearbook.>>

yeartext

The scripture that serves as a theme for the current calendar year. It is displayed on a wall in every Kingdom Hall. <<The yeartext for 1997 says: ``Teach me to do your will.'' (Psa 143:10)>>

you know

This phrase has become, you know, like the most common {word whisker}, you know, in spoken English, used sometimes several times, you know, in the same sentence. <<So, you know, I told the class, you know, Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas, because, you know, Jesus wasn't even born on December 25th.>> My daughter supplied that example.

Young People Ask ...

A series of outstanding articles that addresses the needs of young people, published in {Awake!} magazine. The title always appears with the ellipsis, as shown in the headword.

your care and keeping

Some brothers conclude every prayer that opens a meeting with the signature phrase: <<We leave this meeting in your care and keeping.>> If anyone can explain to me the difference between care and keeping, I would be glad to hear from you. Assuming that there is a difference, there is nothing inherently wrong with the expression; it is just used too often. When prayers are offered spontaneously from the heart, the tendency to use formulistic mannerisms can be avoided. (See the NOTE under {Jehovah}.)

youth

A {fuddy-duddy} term when used as a noun designating a young person, rather than the state of being young. In such cases its use is usually by persons who are not youthful themselves, unless they are cursed with premature {stuffed-shirtedness}. In addition, youth is probably not really considered {politically correct} by many of those it is intended to describe. Persons so designated generally prefer to be called young people, or teenagers, or sometimes just kids, as appropriate. Unfortunately, there is no succinct alternative in English. <<``Hello there, youth! What seems to be troubling you?'' ``None of your business, you old goat!''>> A poor choice of address. <<Youths: What are your goals in life?>> Stuffy, but better. <<Youth is wasted on the young.>> Good, because youth here means the condition of being young, rather than young people. People from New York sometimes pronounce it YOOF or YOOT.

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