the.com/nay
The vote that sounds like a horse and ends your motion anyway.
means An old-fashioned or formal way of saying 'no,' especially when casting a vote against a motion.
from From Old Norse 'nei,' a blend of 'ne' (not) and 'ei' (ever) — basically 'not ever,' compressed into one blunt syllable. It entered English through Norse-influenced dialects in the north, eventually settling in as the vote-against-'yea' partner it still is in parliamentary ritual today.
- origin
- Old Norse nei, not English no
- usage
- formal voting word, rare in casual speech
- bonus meaning
- also means in fact, correcting upward
- parliamentary twin
- always paired with aye, never alone