Comments on: How to say ow

Question: How to say ow

dmo — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:25:27 -0800

Let's say I stub my toe. In English, I might say "ow" or "ouch." In Portuguese, "ai." What are (polite) exclamations of pain in other languages? Pronunciation guidance appreciated!

By: knave

knave — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:31:33 -0800

In Japanese, "itai!" (pronounced e-tie)

By: saladin

saladin — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:31:42 -0800

German: Ach!

By: snownoid

snownoid — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:38:28 -0800

German: Aua! ("Ach" is more like "Oh well")

By: clh

clh — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:40:47 -0800

ay carumba (spanish) ?
oy vey (yiddish) ?

By: snownoid

snownoid — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:43:36 -0800

Dutch: Auw!

By: sugarfish

sugarfish — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:46:53 -0800

I would say "y huela" which apparently translates to "and it smells" but I don't know if that's so much a Spanish Mexican or a northern New Mexican idiomatic phrase.

By: ClarissaWAM

ClarissaWAM — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:48:02 -0800

French: Aïe!

By: birdherder

birdherder — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:49:34 -0800

I've yet to meet a native Spanish speaker that says "ay carumba". When I've said it in Mexico people laugh at me and say "Bart Simpson". Maybe it is used in Latin America or Spain.

People in Mexico, at least, will say just "ay" and sometimes I've head "caray".

By: jozxyqk

jozxyqk — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:50:31 -0800

Speaking of Simpsons..
"D'oh!"

By: bshort

bshort — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:51:56 -0800

A related post in the Blue.

By: sjuhawk31

sjuhawk31 — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:52:12 -0800

"Ow" or "ouch?"

Most American English speakers that I know of would say "F***"

Second the "ay" in Spanish.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:54:39 -0800

Mongols might say "hoy" or "ya"

Chinese might say "aiya"

By: desuetude

desuetude — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:02:12 -0800

You other English speakers actually say "ow"? Huh. The sound that comes out of my mouth when I stub my toe is more like aie.

By: naxosaxur

naxosaxur — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:08:00 -0800

i'm an expert on this outcry in italiano: aiya

phonetically it is pronounced, "eye-ah" with a hard stress on the "eye" part.

By: brownpau

brownpau — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:26:38 -0800

"Aray" (uh-rye) in Tagalog.

By: zadcat

zadcat — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:48:10 -0800

Ay-oye in Quebec French.

By: pzarquon

pzarquon — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:54:56 -0800

"Auē!" in Hawaiian (though this is just as much an exclamation as it is a general expression of disapproval or disgust). "Aw-eh," flowing with emphasis on the last vowel sound.

By: convex

convex — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:00:16 -0800

Arabic "ai" or "akh"

By: ramix

ramix — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:14:48 -0800

Twi - Agyei (adjaye)
Fante - Agyish (adjish)

By: grateful

grateful — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:16:02 -0800

Shazbot, in Orkan.

By: Chorus

Chorus — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:34:08 -0800

Feck! (Irish)

By: itsjustanalias

itsjustanalias — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:50:49 -0800

Ffffffffffffbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbugger
(while hopping)

By: jammer

jammer — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:51:48 -0800

Godverdoeme, d'er zit een bijl in mijnen kop.

By: idledebonair

idledebonair — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:53:48 -0800

Yiddish would probably just be "oy."

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:34:50 -0800

grateful, that's shazbat.

By: brina

brina — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:13:15 -0800

"Opaio" in Korean

By: edlundart

edlundart — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:17:04 -0800

Norwegian: "Au!"

By: claudius

claudius — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:29:01 -0800

Russian: from what I can tell probably 'блядь' (pron. blyad', 'whore') by men in the company of other men, 'чёрт' (chort, 'devil') otherwise. Also 'Ooy' or 'Oy' (esp. older women).

By: rob511

rob511 — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:30:32 -0800

Russian: "Ой!" ("Oy!"), once or multiple times.

By: SeizeTheDay

SeizeTheDay — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:24:34 -0800

Ama! (Pronounced UmAh) in Telegu (South Indian language). Also means mother, and the sound that calfs make when they're scared and want their mother. It's a very useful word.

By: clearlydemon

clearlydemon — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:14:56 -0800

"ay carumba" does not exist. The real word is "caramba", and it's like saying "geez".

sugarfish, would it be "ay güey" (pronounced "i way")? It is a mildly rude expression from Mexico.

By: lundman

lundman — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:18:14 -0800

Swedish "aj!" Soft-j, so more like "y" in yiddish.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:45:45 -0800

Korean: 'aiya' for sudden pain, 'aigo' for more longsuffered, sitting-down-when-your-back-is-sore kinda pain.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:03:35 -0800

Finnish: Ai, Au, Auts.

By: grateful

grateful — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:48:54 -0800

Ahem.

Shazbot (google search) returns 98,800 results.
Shazbat (google search) returns 847 results.

Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:56:17 -0800

Aaaaaaaaaah!!... shssssssssss..!

By: divabat

divabat — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:05:42 -0800

"aiya" for Chinese people (at least Malaysian/Singaporean Chinese) has more of a "oh, geez" connontation.

Malay: Adoi! (rhymes with koi)

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:06:36 -0800

My Chinese person claims that she says, "Aiyou!" (That's in Pinyin; sounds to me like "Aiyoh!")

By: sugarfish

sugarfish — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:45:12 -0800

clearlydemon, I don't think so... "huela" definitely has two syllables and I know I'm saying "y" correctly. I don't doubt that it's mildly rude, though. :)

By: AArtaud

AArtaud — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:35:13 -0800

ah tsa in Tibetan for pain or if you touch something hot. A choo (seriously) if you touch something cold.
Ah ma ma... means something like... oh lawdy.