Yuge (huge)
“Yuge’ (or “yooge”) for “huge” has been a part of New York speech. Boxing promoter Bob Arum (born in New York City in 1931), said in 1995, “the biggest-grossing lightweight fight of all time—it’ll be yooge, yooge.”
American businessman and politician Donald Trump (born in Queens in 1946) and American politician Bernie Sanders (born in Brooklyn in 1941) became associated with “yuge.” Trump’s use became viral in 2004 (with his hosting of the television series The Apprentice) and during his run for president in 2015-16. “Donald Trump has a yooge hairdo” was entered in the Urban Dictionary on March 19, 2004.
“Yuge” often has an added “u” for emphasis. “Yuuuuge” was cited on Twitter on August 15, 2009 and “YUUUGE” was cited on Twitter on September 10, 2009.
19 February 1995, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), “De La Hoya champion of Wrestlemania” by Mark Whicker, pg. C1:
Should De La Hoya show up? (Boxing promoter Bob—ed.) Arum hopes so. He called it “the biggest-grossing lightweight fight of all time—it’ll be yooge, yooge.”
Interpreters from New York reported Arum was saying “huge.”
Google Books
How We Talk:
American Regional English Today
By Allan A. Metcalf
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
2000
Pg. 83:
dropping “h” In most of the United States, the words huge and human start with an “h” sound, as their spelling indicates. In New York City and on Long Island, however, they are generally “yuge” and “yuman” respectively.
Urban Dictionary
yooge
Overblown, ostentatious.
Donald Trump has a yooge hairdo.
by Canuckian March 19, 2004
19 April 2004, Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Better than B-school: Lessons from Trump TV” by Andrea Passalacqua, sec. 5, pg. 1:
8. Don’t ever let them see you dance: Anyone see the April 3 “Saturday Night Live,” where Trump shows he’s not only a horrible actor but also painful to watch on the dance floor? Yuge mistake, Donald, yuge!
Google Groups: alt.messianic
the word Emma hates
moshe
10/2/04
(...)
>Your argument is at best a huge (pronounced “YUGE” for all you
>non-New-Yawkers out there!) LEAP of faith!
Urban Dictionary
yuge
Huge but with a y. Can also be yugg or yugggee or yuggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Hi. I’m Bobby. YUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEE.
aZn.
by A friend of a friend November 08, 2004
Twitter
Jim Ayson
@JimAyson
The pub burger has arrived. As Donald Trump would say, it’s YUGE
7:53 AM - 29 Jan 2009
Twitter
Libby Andrews
@LibbyEAndrews
@brianyerkes @lnee “its gonna be yuuuuge” is a direct quote from donald trump, actually
6:44 PM - 15 Aug 2009
Twitter
JOYA BRAVO
@joyabravo
What makes Joya Bravo happy?: hearing Donald Trump say “YUUUGE” 6 times in a row.
2:43 PM - 10 Sep 2009
Twitter
Jeremy Spoon
@Bigcav83
Damn it Donald Trump…it’s “huge” not “yuge.” #peoplesuckattalking
1:06 PM - 22 Jul 2011
Chicago, IL
Twitter
Bryan Wither
@BryanInMiami
Donald Trump to Gloria Alred: My penis is yuge. YUUUUUGE. ThinkProgress: http://bit.ly/HmklGE
12:18 PM - 4 Apr 2012
Twitter
Collin Baker
@baseballcb950
@baycityball *Trump voice* “It’s gonna be YUUGE”
11:33 PM - 21 Sep 2012
Mental Floss
November 20, 2015 - 9:30am
Why Do Some People Say “Yuge” Instead of “Huge”?
By Arika Okrent
It might be the one thing Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have in common: they pronounce huge as “yuge.”
It’s not so surprising that Sanders and Trump should share some dialect features in common. They were both born in New York in the 1940s. Indeed, this “yuge” for huge substitution has been a recognized feature of the New York City dialect for a long time, but it doesn’t only occur in New York. It’s found in Philadelphia and here and there around the U.S., as well as in the Irish cities of Cork and Dublin.
(...)
As for why it results in “yuge” for New Yorkers in particular, we don’t know exactly, except to say that the story of yuge, like that of all New York dialect features, will have something to do with generation, class, status, and the hustling, bustling mix of people from all over who both adapted and contributed as they tried to talk to each other.
OCLC WorldCat record
The After Math: These numbers are ‘yuge’
Author: Brad Molen; Zach Honig; Terrence O’Brien; Christopher A Trout
Edition/Format: Downloadable article Downloadable article : English
Publication: Engadget HD, (2016-01-31T16:00:00.000Z)
Database: ACI Scholarly Blog Index
Summary:
The GOP holding a debate without the overcooked sweetpotato that is Donald Trump wasn’t even the week’s biggest news. We found the world’s biggest solar system, US Customs confiscated an enormous number of knockoff hoverboards and CERN began rewiring the LHC for added atom-smashy fun, to name a few.This article originally appeared on Engadget at http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/31/the-after-math-these-numbers-are-yuge/
Know Your Meme
Yuge
Part of a series on Donald Trump. [View Related Entries]
Added february 18, 2016 by Ari Spool.
About
Yuge (sometimes spelled yooge) is the pronunciation of the English adjective “huge” in a dialect called “New York City English”, which causes the /h/ to be reduced to a /y/ sound because of the presence of /u/ and /j/. The pronunciation became popular during the 2016 Presidential Election because of its frequent use by both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, both of whom are New York City natives that speak New York City English.
Origin
New York City English is a dialect of English spoken by natives of New York City and the surrounding areas, and is often featured on television as a stand-in for a blue-collar or middle-class manner of speaking. There are generally two forms of the dialect – one is spoken by those who were born in the area before 1950, and one is spoken by those who were born after.
OCLC WorldCat record
Twitter Goes Crazy Over Christie’s “Yuge” Trump Endorsement
Author: WIRED
Edition/Format: Downloadable article Downloadable article : English
Publication: WIRED, (2016-02-26T18:44:42.000Z)
Database: ACI Scholarly Blog Index
Summary:
Today, Donald Trump made an announcement at a press conference in Forth Worth, Texas, and it was yuuuuge: Chris Christie is endorsing him for president.
OCLC WorldCat record
“My Climate Plan is Yuge!” Sez Trump
Author: Dan Farber
Edition/Format: Downloadable article Downloadable article : English
Publication: Legal Planet, (2016-04-01T12:05:52.000Z)
Database: ACI Scholarly Blog Index
Summary:
Donald Trump apparently opened a new front in his war with Ted Cruz last night with this tweet: “My climate plan is HUGE! Ted’s plan is tiny, tiny, tiny.” Cruz immediately struck back: “Trump’s climate plan is as small as his hands!” Establishment Republicans were appalled that the presidential campaign had reached a new low.
OCLC WorldCat record
What Trump’s ‘YUGE’ Victory in New Hampshire Means to the Rest of the Candidates
Author: Tom White
Edition/Format: Downloadable article Downloadable article : English
Publication: Virginia Right! (2016-02-10T17:50:08.000Z)
Database: ACI Scholarly Blog Index
Summary:
Donald Trump had the kind of night in New Hampshire he and his supporters dreamed of and his opponents and detractors feared. This time, the polls were right. Or close enough. Watching the anti-Trump crowd try to diminish the expected Trump victory in the days and hours before the New Hampshire primary was both tedious ...
OCLC WorldCat record
Yuge! : 30 years of doonesbury on trump.
Author: G B Trudeau
Publisher: [S.l.] : Andrews Mcmeel, 2016.
Edition/Format: Print book : English