Yo /ˈjoʊ/ is a slang interjection, commonly associated with North American English. It was popularized by the Italian-American community in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1940s. Although often used as a greeting and often deployed at the beginning of a sentence, yo may also come at the end of a sentence and may be used for emphasis or to direct focus onto a particular individual or group or to gain the attention of another individual or group.