“What is bro yapping about?”
You may have heard (or thought) this countless times. Whether it be during an in-class discussion, listening to your friend go off about their passion, or hearing your parents go on and on long after you’ve stopped paying attention, our lives can sometimes be filled with endless trails of words—meaningless chatter that flows in one ear and out the other. However, the reduction of this talk to no more than “yapping” can be dangerous and detrimental to the fostering of meaningful contributions and the development of ideas. Though most of us know the term from its recent explosion on social media platforms, the word “yapping” itself originated from a noun meant to describe a small dog in the 1600s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. In a process called semantic drift, the meaning of the term has changed over time. “Yap” started to evolve into a verb to describe a high-pitched dog’s bark, and then by the 1800s, a noun meaning human chatter. Nowadays, after its meteoric rise in usage in mid-2023, the word holds many definitions, though the general gist is someone who talks at length about something trivial to an uninterested audience. At Andover too, the word has made its way into a staple of our vernacular.
However, the usage of the term “yapping,” whether it be directed jokingly towards a friend or towards a classmate who has gone on a tangent during class, has the potential to dismiss meaningful contributions or shut down ideas before they become fully developed. Within an educational setting, Andover’s teaching pedagogy centers lessons around discussion. In many courses, a student’s grade contains a section for participation, and though the specific scale and measuring varies from class to class, the pressure of a grade is always present. This often pushes students to speak simply for the sake of speaking; feeling as though they must talk a certain number of times in each discussion, students will jump in regardless of whether they have truly thought through the content and nuance of what they are saying. Additionally, while a participation grade can be helpful towards encouraging all students to contribute their ideas and stay engaged in class, it oftentimes also has the undesirable effect of having discussions be dominated by students who may feel more comfortable talking or are well-versed in the topic being addressed. This can then alienate, irritate, and exhaust those who might also harbor brilliant perspectives but are perhaps more reserved when it comes to sharing, leading to a loss of potentially very insightful interpretations. Whatever the reason, the emergence of a “yapping” culture, where people are both annoyed at others’ perceived substance-less speech and simultaneously feel like they have no choice but to do the same for the sake of their grade, is something that is complex and must be addressed with care.
Though it can often feel like our classes are filled with empty conversation, words said for the sake of being said to check a box, we still believe that within each and every one of us lies the potential to foster genuine conversation. Before we apply the term “yapping” to in-class contributions or direct it towards somebody, we should pause and consider whether we are perhaps being too critical or dismissive. Yes, perhaps the way points are presented in conversations either in or out of class can be long-winded or rambly, but that is an inherent part of talking, where we are thinking out loud and arriving at our conclusion right as we speak it. The best ideas and most unique takes are often buried in long-winding thought processes, and it is only through letting them run their course that these gems can be discovered, picked out, and examined. Furthermore, “yapping” is often simply a sign of passion, and even if we personally may not feel as strongly about the topic, that does not necessarily mean it is meaningless. Maybe there are better settings for the person talking to be showing their ambition, but reducing their words to nothing more than “yapping” is disrespectful to the individuality and diversity of our community. We are all different people with our unique interests, and talking is a primary form of expressing our love for the things that bring us joy and excitement. So the next time you find yourself tempted to label someone a “yapper,” take a moment to recognize that although the perceived “yapping” may seem pointless and unnecessary, perhaps it could be enclosing the beginning of something new, a seed of our humanity entrenched in words.
