# All Slavic languages: Wow!



## Encolpius

I wonder what *onomatopoeic *words you use for *surprise*...

*Slovak*: íha, fíha, ejha, fúha, húha...(stolen from this answer) 
*Czech*: jú, jé, jémine...other exmaples?....

Very close languages but so different onomatopoeia...


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## DarkChild

*Bulgarian*: ole, lele, male, eha, iha and usually with prolonged second syllable.


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## francisgranada

Encolpius said:


> ... *Czech*: jú, jé, jémine...other exmaples?.... Very close languages but so different onomatopoeia...


Tieto sa používajú, alebo aspoň používali aj v slovenčine.

_Jémine _môže byť aj čechizmus - nepoznáš etymológiu toho slova?.


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## rusita preciosa

Russian:
ого! /oho/ - (prononunced with a "Ukranian" soft г)
ничего себе! /nitchevo sebe/
вау! /vau/ - an ugly recent borrowing rom English


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## Милан

Jу [ju], леле [lele, southeastern Serbia],  вау [vau, Eng.wow], охо [oho]


I wouldn't say any of these, I would say „jу јеботе“ [ju jebote]. Some people would consider it a bad word, but it is more common than lele or oho.


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## rusita preciosa

Милан said:


> I would say „jу јеботе“ [ju jebote].


What does it mean literally?


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## Sobakus

*Russian*, also: ух ты (amazement), ох ты (taken aback), о (look!), ба (mostly literary). But the bigger the surprise, the higher the probability the reaction being your good old Russian мат 


rusita preciosa said:


> What does it mean literally?


Urban dictionary provides a very plausible explanation: contraction of  jебао те= ёб тебя.


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## ilocas2

> _Jémine _môže byť aj čechizmus - nepoznáš etymológiu toho slova?.



From Czech etymological dictionary:

*jémine* citosl. Z lat. _Jesu Domine_ 'Ježíši pane', též _jémináčku_ (jakoby zdrobnělina) a _jéminkote_ (kontaminací s něm. _mein Gott_ 'můj Bože').


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## francisgranada

ilocas2 said:


> *jémine* citosl. Z lat. _Jesu Domine_ 'Ježíši pane', též _jémináčku_ (jakoby zdrobnělina) a _jéminkote_ (kontaminací s něm. _mein Gott_ 'můj Bože').


Thank you very much. Also _jemináčku _(with short _e_) was used in Slovak (at least where I live, i.e. in Eastern Slovakia).


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## Azori

Encolpius said:


> *Slovak*: íha, fíha, ejha, fúha, húha...(stolen from this answer)
> *Czech*: jú, jé, jémine...other exmaples?....
> 
> Very close languages but so different onomatopoeia...


Ah...


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## jarabina

ilocas2 said:


> From Czech etymological dictionary:
> 
> *jémine* citosl. Z lat. _Jesu Domine_ 'Ježíši pane', též _jémináčku_ (jakoby zdrobnělina) a _jéminkote_ (kontaminací s něm. _mein Gott_ 'můj Bože').



Interesting thread - I hear jemináčku a lot but would never have guessed in a million years that it came from Jesu Domine!


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## bibax

*Jemine!* is used also in German. In English: jiminy, criminy (Iesu Domine, Christe Domine) or Jiminy Cricket, Jiminy Christmas!

Czech: *prokrindapána! prokrindáčka!* (correctly Pro Krista Pána!).


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## Freier Fall

bibax said:


> *Jemine!* is used also in German.


This might be correct, but most frequent is _herrje!, herrjemine!_, _ojemine!_, and _oje!_ Each of them I heard a lot of times, but I never encountered _jemine!_ (even though listed in the etymological dictionary).

By the way, the reason for these forms is, that people were afraid to break the 2nd Christian commandment. Even the "Herkunfts-Duden" (Günther Drosdowski: "Etymologie: Herkunftswörterbuch der  deutschen Sprache", in: "Der Duden: in 10 Bänden", Vol. 7, 2nd. Edition,  1989) elaborates on that reason (p. 282, and for _jemine!_ p.313):

_herrje!_ und _herrjemine_!: Beide Ausrufe vermeiden aus religiöser Scheu oder speziell aus der Furcht heraus, das 2. Gebot zu verletzen, den vollen Namen Jesu und sind aus 'Herr Jesu' und 'Herr Jesu domine' hervorgangen. Der Ausruf _jemine!_ ist aus 'Jesu domine' entstanden, beachte auch 'ojemine!' und 'oje!'. 
Even the Duden itself uses - as the church is doing - the latin genitive for Jesus (=Jesu) instead of the German one. Some of the religious "shyness" still left in terms of the 2nd commentment?

These forms express scare, sometimes admiration, but they are not really used in situations known for "wow!" in Germany. At least I don't see it.


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## miguell

Polish: Ojej!  Wow! Hohoh! O Boże! Jezus Maria! Chryste!


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## arn00b

To anyone who has answered, could you also tell us the strength of the word you've listed?

I say that because in English, "wow" could be used for really small things like "My boss gave me Friday half-off"  "Wow, that's pretty cool."

"ух ты" would be way too strong for this context.   I think in English, we've devalued the strength of the word "wow" (among others).  We've adapted them for everyday use...  I could find myself saying or hearing "wow" at least 4 times a normal week... and not see one moment worthy of an "ух ты" in my day-to-day life.


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## Tesnogrydo plqmpalo

@DarkChild I  be translate Wow on bulgarian simple with „ъ“, may be very closely.


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## nimak

Macedonian 

I guess the most used is *леле* (lele), but also: *охо* (ohó), *ехе* (ehé), *ихи* (ihí), *уху* (uhú)... or even the long vowels variants: *оо*, *ее*, *ии*, *уу*...

Younger generations also use the the English borrowing spelled *вау* (vau) or *уау* (uau).


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