You can yeet something across the room while yelling “Yeet!” as you do it, but what does yeet really mean? Don’t toss it out of your vocabulary before you learn more about it (that sentence will make more sense in a second).
What Does “Yeet” Mean?
Yeet is a verb that means “to toss something carelessly.” It’s less like tossing a baseball to a friend and more like tossing (or chucking) a crumpled piece of paper into the trash can.
- The teacher was so mad that he yeeted the whiteboard marker across the classroom.
- “Text me back!” I yelled before yeeting my phone out the window.
The thing that’s being thrown can also yeet — in this case, “to fly through the air with a lot of force.”
- The whiteboard marker yeeted right past my head.
- My phone yeeted through the air before crashing onto the sidewalk.
Fast Fact
A person can also yeet themselves or be yeeted by another force.
- The bouncy trampoline yeeted Dave across the backyard.
- Buckle your seatbelt or you’ll yeet right out of the car in an accident.
“Yeet!” As an Interjection
You may have also heard yeet used as an interjection. It can mean the same thing as “Wow!” or “Boo yah!” (if you’re more familiar with 90s slang).
People often yell “Yeet!” right after something cool or remarkable happens, often accompanied by a dab.
You might hear “Yeet!” when:
- someone is about to throw a three-pointer in basketball and it’s definitely going in
- someone tosses a piece of trash into the trashcan and it swishes right in
- someone lands a complicated skate trick that involves them briefly leaving the ground
- someone sticks an amazing dance routine
- someone utterly fails at landing the skate trick or sticking the dance routine, but they’re still trying really hard
- any cool, high-energy thing happens
Need to Know
Although these meanings of yeet are the most common, yeet can also mean “hang out” (“Let’s just yeet around this afternoon”) or “rushing around” (“I’m gonna yeet home real quick and then I’ll be back”).
The Origin of “Yeet”
Yeet originated in 2014 as a type of choreographed dance on Vine (remember Vine?)
After working its way through the internet, yeet has become a common exclamation for victory or celebrating something impressive, especially when something — or someone — flies through the air.
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