Three little words that I see misused quite frequently are yea, yay, and yeah. Darn it, if they aren’t so similar that you may need to pause before employing one in your writing. Luckily for Tweeters and Facebookers everywhere, I’m here to help.

Yea – an archaic, formal, affirmative answer. Think King James Version of the Bible. I suspect this is rarely the word intended.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”

Yay – an informal exclamation expressing triumph, encouragement, approval.

“Yay! You did it Robert!”

Yeah – an informal, casual variant of the word yes. I encounter this most often with teenagers.

“Yeah, pizza for dinner is cool with me.”