I Hate the Term “Yapping”

“Yap” as described by Merriam-Webster is “to talk in a shrill insistent way”. ¹

Somewhere down the line as younger generations started occasionally bringing older slang into modern lexicon, the term “yapping” made its way into social media comment sections. At first it was the phrase “what are you yapping on about” which seemed to be a more sarcastic and patronizing take on the old “shut your yapper”, something that feels like might be heard in a Transatlantic accent in an old black and white movie. The phrase itself “what are you yapping on about”, obviously a rhetorical question and not a real attempt to understand or discuss anything.

However, the term quickly got adopted by people. Everyone was fast to proclaim in their profile bio that they’re a “professional yapper”. People whose entire presence online is discussing topics and giving opinions started having disclaimers in the beginning of their TikTok videos that they’re just having a “yap session” or “a quick yap”, or alternatively ending their video with “sorry for yapping”, “but that’s just me yapping” or “thanks for listening to me yap”. This confused and frustrated me because why are you apologizing to me for “yapping”?! I follow you for your opinions and takes on different topics, if I didn’t want to listen to you I wouldn’t be watching your video, I would’ve scrolled passed or clicked “not interested”. It got to the point where video essayists on YouTube would even use it. Isn’t that your job?! To discuss topics?!

It seems to me like after people started commenting “what are you yapping on about”, others were quick to adopt the terms “yapping” and “yapper” as a preventative measure. You can’t say that to me if I already called myself that, like the Fat Amy joke from Pitch Perfect. And just like that joke it doesn’t quite negate the negative intent in the grand scheme of things.

I think the term is inherently anti-intellectualist. “What are you yapping on about” is clearly meant to shut down conversation similar to other phrases like “It’s not that deep” or “It’s just a movie”. I feel like people trying to quickly reclaim it so it wouldn’t be used against them is just sad. Why would you devalue your words, thoughts and opinions by calling them an inherently negative term like “yapping”?

There’s nothing wrong with thinking about the world around you, in fact you should be doing that. Conversation and communication with others is so important, especially now that people feel more disconnected than ever. And even seemingly mundane topics usually speak louder about the current social and political climate. Personally I would love the never hear the term “yapping” again and for people to embrace critical thought and genuine conversation.