Why are voting options in congress "yea" and "nay", not "yes" or "no", or some other combination?
Posted by MySoulIsPureLewdity@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 20 comments
maggy_boi_x@reddit
Because John Adams and other founding fathers revered British Parliament decorum, so they imitated it often during their time in Congress.
Pleased_Bees@reddit
Much of the formal language dates from the 18th century and we've kept some things because they're traditional.
LeslieCantSleep@reddit
Thankfully they have given up the long S in Congreſs.
rnoyfb@reddit
In some languages, the words for yes and no are different depending on if the question is phrased in the negative or not. Sometimes they’ll have two words for yes, one for confirming the question and one for just dropping the negation. French has two words for ‘yes,’ one for confirming an affirmative question (oui) and one for stating the affirmative of a negative question (si) but only one for ‘no’: ‘non’.
Early Modern English had a four-way system. ‘Aye’ and ‘nay’ were for responding to affirmative questions. ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ were for responding to negative questions.
Parliamentary language can be conservative
RTGlen@reddit
How the hell did we end up with the negative responses to questions being the standard?
Great_Chipmunk4357@reddit
If you watch the sessions on TV, they say “aye” and “no.” And of course now they have electronic voting.
Rockandroar@reddit
The U.S. Constitution requires it according to Article 1 Section 7. It’s a holdover from Parliamentary procedure.
mstakenusername@reddit
That's interesting, in Australia it is "Aye" and "No." I wonder why we each have different archaic words for the affirmative?
Penguin_Life_Now@reddit
My guess is different population groups of settlers and different time periods. Australia did not start getting actively colonized until after US independence. It is easy to forget that at the time of the US revolutionary war in 1776 there were already close to 3 million people living in the American Colonies, which were started over 150 years earlier, n the early 1600's
Great_Chipmunk4357@reddit
Thanks for pointing out that the American colonies go back to 1600. Although the first attempts were failures, the English started trying to colonize the Virginia coast in the late 1500s. Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare were still alive. In fact, Hamlet’s first performance was only 5 years before Jamestown, Virginia was founded. So many Brits and others think that the US sprang into being in 1776.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Our state of Georgia was originally a penal colony. After independence, convicts were sent to Oz!
umlaut@reddit
In Australia I think it is Aye and Narrrr
Lower_Neck_1432@reddit
Art. I Sect. 7,
"Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by ***yeas and Nays***, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law."
Practical-Ordinary-6@reddit
I had assumed it was simply tradition but according to some comments here it's actually written into the US Constitution and that makes it mandatory. The only legal way to change would be to have a constitutional amendment -- and that wouldn't happen for a situation as unimportant as that.
Tav17-17@reddit
Back in the day if a congressman couldn’t make a meeting they could send their horse to vote on their behalf. They didn’t want to accidentally approve anything so the “no” vote was said as “nay” to allow the horses the ability to vote no on behalf of their congressman.
Eventually they stopped allowing this due to the smell and it’s why we now have a lot of terrible laws that are referred to as “horse shit” laws.
Carlpanzram1916@reddit
The rules were written over 200 years ago and a lot of stuff like that was borrowed from the British.
rheasilva@reddit
Tradition & parliamentary procedure.
Where I live (not america) the official language used to be French, so the equivalent options are Pour and Contre (For & Against in French)
Danibear285@reddit
It’s called the democratic process in action
Sadimal@reddit
It's tradition and written in the Constitution.
Article I Section 7 US Constitution:
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