He, She, It, Yo

The other day, I was driving when I heard this promo on KQED (a local NPR affiliate here in the Bay Area), for a story about the use of “yo” as a gender-neutral pronoun. And, I thought to myself, “Really?! Am I that out of touch that the first I am hearing about this is on NPR?”

When I got home, I looked it up and learned that the report is about a study conducted on a group of middle school and high school students in Baltimore who have started using “yo” as a third-person pronoun.  For instance:

“Yo is going to the movies,” or “I heard that yo might be playing in the game tonight.”   Then, there is my own personal favorite, "Peep yo!" which apparently means, "Look at him/her!"

Okay, I don’t live in Baltimore, don’t know anyone who lives there, and I don’t even live in an urban setting.  And, I am not a high school student, don’t have teenagers, don’t really even know any. So, I guess it’s understandable that I wasn’t in the loop on this one. 

I grew up in a South Jersey suburb of Philadelphia in the ‘80s. To us “yo” was a greeting or a summons, as in the local favorite, “Yo, Adrian!”  While using “yo” as an all-purpose pronoun seems convenient, I am trying to envision its integration into my own life. Imagine these scenes from my life as a SAHM:

“Don’t take yo’s playdough, please.”

“Yo is having a time out.”

“I am going to a meeting at yo’s preschool.”

Doesn’t quite have the right ring to it, does it?  I guess I don’t need to be on the cutting edge of this one.  However, I will figure out a way to start incorporating "Peep yo!"