yens

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of yen in its sense of a longing or craving. The plural of the currency is yen.

   The pregnancy brought on strange yens for pickles and ice cream.

   She kept a journal of her passing yens and where they led her.

   Note

   Only one kind of yen takes this -s plural, and that is the craving. The currency normally stays invariant (ten yen, not ten yens), and the slang sense meaning opium is uncountable, so it has no plural at all. When you meet yens, read cravings or longings. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of yen.

   Whenever the harvest ends, she yens for the bustle of the markets.

   He still yens after the years he spent at sea.

   Note

   Longing as a verb can take its object directly, as in to yen something, but it sits just as comfortably with for or after, much as yearn and long do. The -s ending belongs only to he, she or it. With I, you, we and they the verb is plain yen: they yen for home, but she yens for home.

3. 3
   pronoundialectalAppalachiaMidwestern USPennsylvaniaWestern

   You all; used when addressing or referring to a group that includes the person you are speaking to.

   Would yens mind keeping the noise down after midnight?

   If yens want a ride home, just wait by the front steps.

   Similaryou, y'all, youse

   Note

   A contraction of "ye ones," and unrelated to the currency or the craving despite the identical spelling. It belongs chiefly to Appalachian speech, and is also heard in western Pennsylvania and the Midwestern US, always in casual talk. It marks a plural that standard English leaves unmarked, since a single "you" serves for one listener or many. Keep it to relaxed, local conversation.

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