Phrase guide

yada yada yada

phrase · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

phrase

Meaning 1

And so on; and so forth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

phrase

Meaning 2

Blah blah blah.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, uncommon

Examples

  • We chewed it over forever ... yada yada yada, nothing important.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To give little attention or treatment to; to gloss over; to give short shrift to.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Probably influenced by (or perhaps an alteration of) yatter or yatata; perhaps onomatopoeic of blather; or perhaps derived from the Norwegian expression jada, jada which has a similar pronunciation and interpretation. Sometimes popularly attributed to Yiddish, but this is dismissed by etymologists. "Yatter, yatter" is British (specifically Scots) English for "continuous chatter, rambling and persistent talk, nagging". S. R. Crockett, The Men of the Moss-Hags (1895) xxix: "The woman's yatter, yatter easily vexed me." Yadder is a Cumberland word meaning "to talk incessantly; to chatter". Various variant forms appear in the US 1940s–60s; for example, the 1947 American musical Allegro by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers contains a song called “Yatata, Yatata, Yatata,” about cocktail party chatter; see talk page for additional citations. The phrase "yadda yadda" was first popularized by the comedian Lenny Bruce in his standup bit "Father Flotsky's Triumph," the closing track on his 1961 album "Lenny Bruce - American." It appeared on television in 1993 in the sitcom "Frasier" (Season 4 Episode 12) when Niles and Frasier are having a conversation seen from a dog's point of view. The phrase gained renewed popularity in the US in the late 1990s on the television show Seinfeld, where it appears as a catchphrase, initially in Season 8, Episode 19, entitled “The Yada Yada”, originally aired on April 24, 1997, which centers on the phrase (in the duplicative “yada yada” form).

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: tsouin-tsouin — and so on
  • Japanese: 云云 — and so on
  • Portuguese: etc., etc., etc. — and so on
  • Turkish: falan filan — and so on
  • Thai: บลา บลา บลา (blaa blaa blaa) — blah blah blah