Make Your Point > Archived Issues > YO-YOING
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connect this word to others:
Surprisingly, yo-yoing is not the first term we've checked out that takes a children's toy made of string and applies it to general situations.
That honor goes to the term c__'s_c_____!
Can you recall it? Used generally, it means "something complicated, with many interrelated parts."
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"YO-YOING"
The yo-yoing penguin below was created by Martina Scott.
You know the toy: one axle, two discs, one long string that can't wait to get hopelessly tangled.
Figuratively speaking, a yo-yo is anything that moves up and down, over and over, in a jerky way.
And to yo-yo is to move up and down, over and over, in a jerky way.
And yo-yoing is the act of moving up and down, over and over, in a jerky way.
Pronunciation:
YO YO ing
Part of speech:
Both a noun ("all this yo-yoing is stressful") and an adjective ("their yo-yoing sales figures").
Other forms:
Yo-yo(s), yo-yoed.
Sometimes we'll just use "yo-yo" as the adjective: "yo-yo dieting," "that yo-yo policy."
How to use it:
This word is playful, with a negative tone: things that "yo-yo" don't make progress, and they don't just "fluctuate" or "oscillate;" they keep making the same gains and losses again and again.
Call something (or someone) a yo-yo if it keeps changing back and forth.
You might talk about yo-yoing weights, grades, scores, prices, interest rates, approval rates, temperatures, sea levels and other measurements, policies, feelings, public interest, etc.
And you can talk about things (and people) yo-yoing between things, or from one thing to another. "The price yo-yoed between $33 and $198." "The price keeps yo-yoing from $33 to $198 and back."
examples:
"Call it Jason’s Rule: When he is on top of the golf world, it is an excellent bet that he's headed down. And when he's down, and has been forgotten, it's an even better bet that he's on the rise. In other words, Jason Day is the human yo-yo."
— Shane Ryan, Golf Digest, 14 March 2018
"[The album] The Game was released in June 1980. Like Jazz and News of the World, it yo-yoed between styles and sounds, as each of its four writers hustled for space. But this disjointedness was fast becoming a key ingredient of the Queen sound."
— Mark Blake, Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen, 2011
has this page helped you understand "yo-yoing"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "yo-yoing" without saying "going up and down" or "making the same gains and losses continually."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(In some period of time, or in some situation), (someone's success, happiness, interest in something, or willingness to do something) yo-yoed."
Example: "As the summer wears on, Judy's interest in the narrator yo-yoes. She pulls him in, then pushes him away; he forgives her every time."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing Name Those Synonyms!
We're enjoying the gracefully written, ultra-authoritative explanations in Funk & Wagnalls Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. In each issue, check out the passage from the book, and see if you can figure out which synonyms are being distinguished.
From the previous issue: What two synonyms (<1> and <2>) does the Handbook distinguish below?
"<1>, habitual longing or desire to gratify something, is used only of the demands of the physical system, unless otherwise expressly stated, as when we say a/an <1> for knowledge; <2> includes all excitable impulses of our nature, as anger, fear, love, hatred, etc. <1> is thus more animal than <2>; and when we speak of <2>s and <1>s as conjoined or contrasted, we think of the <1>s as wholly physical and of the <2>s as, in part at least, mental or emotional. We say a/an <1> for food, a <2> for fame."
Answers:
<1> is "appetite."
<2> is "passion."
Try this today: What two synonyms (<1> and <2>) does the Handbook distinguish below? (They are distinguished first from each other, then distinguished from "dream" and "vision.")
"A <1> is purposeless drifting of the mind when awake, abstract or fanciful musing; a <2> that which passes before the mind in such condition.
A dream is strictly a train of thoughts, fantasies, and images passing through the mind during sleep; a vision may occur when one is awake, and exercising the senses and mental powers clearly; vision is often applied to something seen by the mind through supernatural agency, whether in sleep or wakefulness, conceived as more real and authoritative than a dream."
Bonus challenge: Recall the fine differences between "ambition" and "aspiration." You can view the answer in this issue.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of YO-YOING is
A. YANKING.
B. STABILIZING.
C. UNDERMINING.
2. In hiking, "yo-yoing" is _____.
A. gulping water quickly rather than packing it along
B. making a long trek, then immediately making the return trip
C. attempting a remote, grueling trail without the proper experience or equipment
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Surprisingly, yo-yoing is not the first term we've checked out that takes a children's toy made of string and applies it to general situations.
"YO-YOING" The yo-yoing penguin below was created by Martina Scott.
You know the toy: one axle, two discs, one long string that can't wait to get hopelessly tangled.
"Call it Jason’s Rule: When he is on top of the golf world, it is an excellent bet that he's headed down. And when he's down, and has been forgotten, it's an even better bet that he's on the rise. In other words, Jason Day is the human yo-yo."
Explain the meaning of "yo-yoing" without saying "going up and down" or "making the same gains and losses continually."
Fill in the blanks: "(In some period of time, or in some situation), (someone's success, happiness, interest in something, or willingness to do something) yo-yoed."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of YO-YOING is
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