یارو

What it means

یارو (yâru) is a colloquial, mildly dismissive word for a guy or fellow, typically used to refer to a third party the speaker does not want to name, does not consider worth naming, or is describing with mild contempt or humor. It comes from یار (yâr), meaning companion or beloved, a word shared between Persian and Turkic. The form یارو adds a suffix that shifts the meaning away from closeness and toward vague indefiniteness. In practice یارو sounds like that guy, this dude, or the fellow in question. It is informal and slightly dismissive; using it about someone present can come across as rude, so it typically refers to an absent third person.

How to use it

• یارو گفت فردا میاد، نیومد. (yâru goft fardâ miyâd, niyumad.) “That guy said he would come tomorrow and did not show up.”
• یارو رو می‌شناسی؟ (yâru ro mishnâsi?) “Do you know that dude?”
• یارو چی می‌خواست؟ (yâru chi mikhâst?) “What did that fellow want?”
• یه یاروئی اومد در رو زد. (ye yâruyi umad dar ro zad.) “Some guy came and knocked on the door.”

Cultural note

یارو is one of the words that marks speech as informal Tehran colloquial. In formal or written Persian it does not appear, and using it in a professional context would signal a significant lapse in register. It also has a gender bias: یارو typically refers to a man. For a woman in the same dismissive register speakers more often use یه زنیکه (ye zanikeh) or simply اون خانومه (un khânome, that lady). The word یار that underlies یارو lives a completely separate life in Persian poetry and expressions of loyalty, which creates an interesting contrast between its poetic root and its slang descendant.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab