Yo Mon

After hearing a lecture, I joined the conversation among friends at tea who were discussing the talk, "Then yo mon said ... " These words, "yo mon" kept occurring, in reference to some person, which seemed to be the lecturer. At first I thought perhaps it was an Irish name that I wasn't familiar with, but then I realized they were talking about the speaker, and I know that was not his name (he was American).

Then I was among another group of people, and the same "yo mon" is used, but somehow I could tell it was in a general way--perhaps it is a nickname or a title for someone?

Finally, the mystery was opened to me. They are really saying "your man" (but with a Dublin accent), and it is a typical way of referring to whomever is the subject of the conversation. Rather than using the (natural...) pronoun "he," here they say "your man," even when the person is a stranger to you all and there is no obvious possession by anyone to warrant the use of "your." It's kind of like saying "that guy"... just casually spicing up the description a bit, I suppose...

Well, now that my ears are tuned into this expression, I hear it all the time! I can't help but chuckle, as it really is a very common usage in Dublin, and I'm not quite sure why it is better than a simple "he." But I confess, I am starting to be endeared toward its presence in casual story-telling among friends...