Yeah in dialogue

[Pentagon]

Generally, one tries not to recreate a real conversation / boring small talk but to create engaging exciting conversations.

Slang is very hit and miss depending on what you're trying to do. Some settings create their own expletives (battlestar galactica being a notable example). Back on question, would you permit a character to reply with yeah?

Best
Pentagon

 

[Brian G Turner]

In modern-settings, totally normal. Just finished reading a James Patterson thriller, and his books are full of slang. And he's labelled as America's biggest-selling author.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

You can do anything that fits context, place, person, time in dialogue, not in narration. I create extra custom dictionaries, so that I spell any book specific words consistently.

Any dialect needs to be sparing, esp. if unfamiliar to target readers.

Very up to the moment slang can get outdated before a book is even published. If "slang" is like 10 years+ in use and doesn't make people roll eyes, then it's OK. Sometimes you might HAVE a character that other characters laugh at due to their "out of date" slang.

"Yeah" is pretty safe in dialogue in the correct context.

 

[Boneman]

Yeah.

 

[Adam Stubbings]

In modern-settings, totally normal. Just finished reading a James Patterson thriller, and his books are full of slang. And he's labelled as America's biggest-selling author.

Surely thats Lee Child? Or Clive Cussler, or whoever is writing his Dirk Pitt books now?

 

[Droflet]

What Boneman said.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Yeah, what Boneman said.

 

[J Riff]

Ya, yah, yea, yeah. Yup, yeppers, yo.

 

[Bowler1]

Yeah... Why not???

 

[hopewrites]

It's certainly more succinct than "I acknowledge that you have spoken to me. Your advice is tiresome, if accurate, and I may be forced to head it... though I enjoy that prospect about as much as I enjoy the grating sound of your voice." or "Gotcha Cheef! I'm totally all over it. In fact, can't stay to chat, I'm gonna go do that right this super second!" or "I suppose I'm forced to agree, as I can't see any alternative." or "what d'ya want? I'm too busy to reply more than monosyllabacally at the moment..." or any other phrase conveyed by that simple monosyllable reply.

The difficulty would be to get the tone into the text. Vocally we put more meaning into the words we use than the words themselves carry.

 

[Juliana]

I'm pretty sure 'yeah' is safe. I wouldn't go as far as using my preteen's favorite texting response, 'YAAAASSSSSS', though.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Deffo

pH

 

[ErikB]

Generally, one tries not to recreate a real conversation / boring small talk but to create engaging exciting conversations.

Slang is very hit and miss depending on what you're trying to do. Some settings create their own expletives (battlestar galactica being a notable example). Back on question, would you permit a character to reply with yeah?

Best
Pentagon

Yeah.

Of course...

 

[Steven Sorrels]

Da, Comrade.

 

[chrispenycate]

Aye, 'yeah' is immediately comprehensible and no problem. Dependent on character, evidently - I wouldn't expect an elf-lord to yell "Yeah, let's go get this dragon!" to his retinue (I wouldn't necessarily expect "Prithee, brothers, it behooves us to abate this menace for now and ever." either - you set up your dialect to match the characters). But dialogue, as long as it is consistent with circumstance, can be as natural as the situation requires.

 

[Stephen Thompson]

Some of my characters use slang terms and colloquialisms, but i find the best way to do it is to keep it to just one particular character or group of characters depending on where they're from.

 

[Classysturgeon]

I'd let a character reply with "yeah" if it fits their personality and the situation. A bland phrase like "yeah" could also highlight the fantastic nature of something that another character said, such as:

"Come, my young friends! Let us strip naked and ride our war walruses into battle!"
"Um...yeah."

 

[Juliana]

"Come, my young friends! Let us strip naked and ride our war walruses into battle!"
"Um...yeah."

I can sooooo picture your two characters!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

"Come, my young friends! Let us strip naked and ride our war walruses into battle!"
"Um...yeah."

I expect to see that conversation in a future 75-worder.

 

[Droflet]

Ahhhhhh, yeah.