Dictionary

Main Entry: ya·da ya·da
Variant(s): or yad·da yad·da \ˈyä-də-ˈyä-də\ or yada yada yada or yadda yadda yadda \-ˈyä-də\
Function: noun
Etymology: alteration of earlier yatata idle chatter, probably ultimately from British dial. and argot yatter-yatter to chatter, of imitative origin
Date: 1980
: boring or empty talk —often used interjectionally especially in recounting words regarded as too dull or predictable to be worth repeating

Hot off the presses, the updated and very spiffy Random House Webster's College Dictionary offers some surprises to students of the English language. Among the new entries, for example, browsers will find yada-yada-yada, defined on page 1489 as "blah-blah-blah." Also listed: Granny dumping soccer moms, transgender, gazillion (but not kajillion), roofie, bad hair day, wedgie, uptalk magic bullet, overclass and lap dance.

"Dictionaries are the indexes of current society," says Editor in Chief Sol Steinmetz, who also wrote the book The F Word. "And the words we use reflect society's concerns." For the last several years, Steinmetz and his 39-member staff have had the heady task of determining winners and losers in the bright-red volume, billed as "the only dictionary written and designed for the 21st century"

Source:  Random House Webster's College Dictionary
Insight on the News, Oct 27, 1997 by Jennifer Harper