Yiff is aslang term used in thefurry fandom to refer topornographic content ofanthropomorphic animal characters.[1] It is considered atongue-in-cheek term in the furry fandom.[2][3][4] The term is also used as a way to insult members of the furry fandom, such as in the phrase "yiff in hell".[1] Additionally, the term is also used in theplushie fetish community.[5]
Furry conventions usually have strict policies regulating where yiff artwork can be displayed or sold.[6]
The slang termyiff, within the context of the furry fandom, was initially conceived as part of the "Foxese" language, a series of onomatopoeic sounds used by a group of anthropomorphic fox roleplayers in the 1990s. At the time, the term was non-sexual, translating to an emphatic yes before being used by another group as a generic term for sex.[7][unreliable source?]
TheCSI episode "Fur and Loathing", which aired on October 30, 2003, increased awareness of the term outside of the furry fandom while misrepresenting and inadvertently contributing to the negative stigma commonly associated with the furry fandom.[8][9][self-published source?] The wordyiff became mainstream later that decade from anti-furry rhetoric on sites like4chan.[4]
According toGoogle Trends, Google searches for the term were more prevalent during the 2000s and 2010s, reaching a peak during June 2010 before steadily declining outside of a brief rise in November 2020.[10]
