# Ouch



## Cracker Jack

How do you say "Ouch!" in your respective languages?  Or what is the word you use to express pain when you are hurt physically?

Thanks a lot.


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## Brazilian dude

In Portuguese I think most people would be likely to say Ai or b%sh@klasd*1(¨#.

Brazilian dude


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## elroy

In standard Arabic the word used is *أخ* (_aakh_).

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic we use the same word, and also *أي* (_aay_). The latter tends to be used spontaneously, like if you stub your toe or hit your head against something, whereas the former is used to express more "elongated" pain (say, if you're bedridden with a bad headache).


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## Mutichou

In French, we say "aïe" or "ouille".


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## Pivra

In Thai, we say โอ้ย "oy"


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## belén

In Spanish we say "ay" mostly


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## lazarus1907

I agree with Belén. *¡Uy!* is also used to express sudden physical pain.


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## Marijka

Polish : auć! (sounds like ouch'! ) or ała!


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## Manuel_M

In Maltese: *aħħ *(aspirated h sound) or *ajma* (ay-ma).


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## Tisia

In Iran we say different ways: Ai, ooi,au, akh, oof.
Tisia


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## Bienvenidos

Afghanistan: *Oof!*

*Bien*


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## Vespasian

German: *Aua!*, *Au!* or *Autsch!*


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## optimistique

In Dutch we say: *Au*w*! or *Auw**a*! (but the latter sounds more childish). 


*I'm not sure whether you write it with or without 'w'


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## betulina

In Catalan, if we say one of these words, it would be "au" or "ai", but a swearword would come straight away


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## Lemminkäinen

In Norwegian, we say _au_.


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## Cracker Jack

Thanks a lot for all your replies. They just confirmed my suspicion that in any culture people would usually swear when they unintentionally get hurt. There are exceptions though.


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## sweet girl

In Arabic language some countries has his own word for example ,in my country we say(أي )its sound like (aay) or (أح )sound like(aah)....


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## Dalian

Chinese:

哎哟 aiyo
哎呀 aiya


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## Tyfo

Danish: Av!


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## amikama

Hebrew: *!איי* (_aay!_)


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## instantREILLY

I have heard several in Japan.

あっ!
_A!_

あう!
_Au!_

いたい!　（いたっ！いったっ！いったたたっ！いって～）
_Itai!  (Ita! Itta! Ittatata! Itte~)_

The first two are random sounds, and hold no real meaning.  The 3rd and it's variants stem from the adjective "painful".  Another, あっち _acchi_, may be used if the pain in question is caused by something hot. (It comes from the word, hot _atsui_)


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## Oogami

And the kanji for that would be "痛い".

In Bahasa Indonesia: "Aduh!" or "Sakit!" [Pain].


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## parakseno

Romanian: Au!


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## Honour

turkish: generally ah! (h is an aspirated sound, similar to spanish j)
sometimes, of! ( just like english of) and ay!, which is just read as english pronoun "i", are used.


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## TimeHP

Italian: Ah! Ahi! Ahia! and sometimes many unrepeatable words... 
Ciao


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## Dobean

Yeah, and in Italian sometimes even "oi" and "oia" are used...


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## alby

Croatian:
Aaaaa, Au (most common), and auć (from ouch)

Nataša


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## Juri

It.:Ahi!, Ahime! ; Slovenian: Au, aua!, S.-Croatian:Avaj, Jao!


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## Mei

betulina said:
			
		

> In Catalan, if we say one of these words, it would be "au" or "ai", but a swearword would come straight away



Jeje I say "aix", it sounds like "aaaishh"

Mei


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## elroy

sweet girl said:
			
		

> in my country we say... (أح )sound like(aah)....


 
That's funny, because in my country that's what we say when we're cold!


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## Maja

In Serbian:

"Aaa", "Au" or "Joj".


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## LanceKitty

*Tagalog:*

In the Philippines we say, *"Aray!"* (ah-wry) which is followed by the foul language for emphasis of how severe the pain is.


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## andreiro

In Romanian:
"Au" or "Ai".


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## Outsider

Brazilian dude said:
			
		

> In Portuguese I think most people would be likely to say Ai or b%sh@klasd*1(¨#.


Ai, Au, Ui...


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## Boyd

We say OWWW and I don't think I've actually ever heard anyone say ouch.


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## miu_miu

Swedish: Aj


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## HUMBERT0

Has anybody notice that in most languajes the sound starts with A ?


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## Cherubino

It probably sounds like a strange question, but I am curious as to what people of other countries exclaim when they get hurt. In English, for example, we'd say "oww" or "ouch" to express pain. The Chinese generally cry out "AY (as in the letter a) yo" (I hear this _countless_ times from family). What would you say? Besides swear words and oaths that is!


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## KaRiNe_Fr

In French it's often "aïe !" / "ahi !" or "ouille !" and even "ouille ouille ouille !" if really painful.


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## etornudo

KaRiNe_Fr said:


> In French it's often "aïe !" / "ahi !" or "ouille !" and even "ouille ouille ouille !" if really painful.



Spanish speakers say the same. Some, of course, just use an expletive.


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## Sorcha

I'm not too sure how to spell it (I'm sure someone will correct me) but the italians tend to say something similar to the french/spanish but with more of an 'a' at the end, like 'aya', but i do think it depends on  the severity of the situation. This might just be an over embellished expression for a tiny nick!


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## .   1

Ow is how it is sometimes represented.  When I slightly hurt myself this is what I say.  If I really hurt myself I am either silent or I say, "Hnng".

.,,


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## moura

The most common expression in Portuguese is "ai!" (not so different from other languages, I guess, when pronunciated). We may also say "ui!" but ai! is really the champion.

One thing that I have noted in English interjections is that the most common is "Oh!" (for surprise). In Portuguese we use instead "Ah!" (or sometimes "Eh!")

Returning to the "Ai" for pain, of course next come the other words, that may be more or less hard, depending on the pain and the place. I just say here three of the more soft: chiça! bolas! gaita!


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## IlPetaloCremisi

Sorcha said:


> I'm not too sure how to spell it (I'm sure someone will correct me) but the italians tend to say something similar to the french/spanish but with more of an 'a' at the end, like 'aya', but i do think it depends on  the severity of the situation. This might just be an over embellished expression for a tiny nick!




We say "aya" !!! or "ahi"...that's correct Sorcha!


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## Etcetera

A Russian would most probably cry "Ay!" or "Ough" (if they're slightly hurt). 
Well, besides swear words, of course.


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## francophone

Slight pain "Ay", moderate pain "aah", real pain "AAAAAAH".


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## maxiogee

Hold on while I find a big stick and a dozen non-voluntary research samples 

We tend to either say Ow or Oh or Ah - or else we swear - - "Feck it" being a one-size-fits-all suitable for many occasions,


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## Lillita

In Hungary, we usually say _"aú"_. Depending on the seriousness of the wound, it can also be _"aúúú"_ or _"aúúúúúúúúúúúúú"_, of course!  
Sometimes, we don't say anything, only set our teeth and let out a snake-like sound. Something like _"ssssssss"_ but we inhale the air instead of exhailing it.


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## parakseno

Romanians usually say "Au!" (or sometimes "ioi") that is, if they don't use more "colourful" words.


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish:*
*Ay!
Ah!
Of!
Oy!*


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## Alijsh

Persians say "âkh", "ây".


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## irene.acler

IlPetaloCremisi said:


> We say "aya" !!! or "ahi"...that's correct Sorcha!



I agree with you, and I think that "aya" is probably the most used! Sometimes, to highlight the idea, we also say "ayaaaaaaa", making longer the final _a_ and giving it a particular stress.


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## Hakro

*Finnish:* ai, aih, aiaiai, au, auh, auts, ui, uiuiui, voi, voih...


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## linguist786

Apart from the obvious "oh" and "aah", in *Urdu/Gujarati/Hindi*, we say things like (depending on the severity of the situation):

"oh baa!"/"oh maa!" _(O dad! O mum!)_ 
(Gujarati): "oh baaprey!" (_O dad!_ I don't know where the "-prey" bit comes from, but we say it)


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## .Lola.

In Czech we say "au" or "jau" (j pronounced as "y" in the word "you"). Sometimes also "auvajs" or "jauvajs".


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## youtin

In tagalog we say "*aray*!" or "*aw*!"

In Japanese it's "*itai*" or could go "ittatatata.."


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## mcibor

Lillita said:


> In Hungary, we usually say _"aú"_. Depending on the seriousness of the wound, it can also be _"aúúú"_ or _"aúúúúúúúúúúúúú"_, of course!
> Sometimes, we don't say anything, only set our teeth and let out a snake-like sound. Something like _"ssssssss"_ but we inhale the air instead of exhailing it.



In Polish we have also this sss, but mostly
au, auć, oj, ojć, aj, ajć
if somebody hurt you and you are more angry than hurt then you would usually say
ała (aua) with accent on the second "a"


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## Frank06

Hi,

In *Dutch* it is often 'auw' or 'aa'.

'Ai' (sometimes repeated) is used when something goes wrong (not necessarily involving pain).

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Outsider

_The Daily Show_ had a sktech about the fad of TV reporters testing tasers on themselves. They showed three American reporters, who screamed "Ow!" or "Oh!", and then they showed a Swedish reporter, who shouted "Ai!" (rhyming with "eye"). (John Stewart joked that he'd screamed with an umlaut.) That's what a Portuguese reporter would probably have shouted!

But as as noted previously in the thread you have many choices in Portuguese: _Ai!_, _Ui!_, _Au!_ (sounds like the English "Ow!")... almost the whole range of diphthongs.


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## Cnaeius

irene.acler said:


> I agree with you, and I think that "aya" is probably the most used! Sometimes, to highlight the idea, we also say "ayaaaaaaa", making longer the final _a_ and giving it a particular stress.


 
But, sorry, why "aYa"??  I always wrote and saw "ahia" and not "aya"
Maybe there is also "ohi" when the pain is moderate and not physical
ciao


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## j'enris

"aduh" -malay


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## pharabus

the Tagalog one is great, 

it is said really casually as though nothing actually happened, at least by the Philippinos i know, 

one thing i noticed is they usually add ko to the end so saying the full phrase "aray ko" I believe the literal translation is "I hurt" in English?


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

This is a very funny thread, Querubino. Thanks for opening it. 


Etcetera said:


> A Russian would most probably cry "Ay!" or "Ough" (if they're slightly hurt).
> Well, besides swear words, of course.


Waow... Our peoples really do have a lot in common; right, Anita? 

In (Latin American) *Spanish*:
- Ay!
- Uy!
- Ough! (Áuf!)
- Ouch! (Áuch!) -I say this one a lot-





Lillita said:


> Sometimes, we don't say anything, only set our teeth and let out a snake-like sound. Something like _"ssssssss"_ but we inhale the air instead of exhailing it.


Same here. I was going to describe it as the opposite to "Sshhhhh!". Perhaps, "Hhhhhhhhsss!"? 

But bear in mind that the first choice would always be a swear word... Or several...


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## lhanie

In Tagalog.. we usually say "ARAY KO"


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## Cherubino

Thanks, everyone, for your very interesting replies!  I can see a pattern of sorts going on here, and it seems to me that "aya" or something along the lines of that is the prevailing sound which people make when in pain - besides reverting to some more, ehm, _expressive_ words, of course.


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## Bienvenidos

Persian:
_
Slight Pain (as in from a hot pot)_
*Wi! (pronounced WEE!)*

_ Heavy pain (as when your knuckle hits a hard object by accident)_ 
* UKH! (uh as in DULL and the KH is the Persian sound...doesn't exist in English)*

And extreme, deathly pain: 
*UHHH, murdam!!!!!!!! *(AH, I DIED!) Belive me, people will say MURDAM after it, all the time. 

Also, thow in a *ci balâ (what the hell!)

*Also, *"Bomora!!" *literally translated as, *"MAY IT DIE" *as whatever it is that hurt me, *MAY IT DIE!
*
*KHOK * *ŠAWA *is said a lot, literally meaning, "*may it become dirt*" as in "*may it be surrounded, buried by and decomposed to dirt*." aka *may it die!*

Regional to Afghanistan, I suppose.


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## DrLindenbrock

Lillita said:


> Something like _"ssssssss"_ but we inhale the air instead of exhailing it.


 
Some Italians - including me - do it too, but I don't think it is very common.
As said by many others, "ahia" and "ahi" tend to be the most common ones.


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## macta123

In Hindi : aye, oof,oueee, hai maa!

In Marathi : aai g.uh!

In Malayalam : ayoo, "viaa", aah


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## zaigucis

*Latvian: *au, auč (auch)


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## Maja

In Serbian:

aj, joj, au, aaa...


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## Aurin

In German we use:
 AU


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## mimi2

In Vietnamese:
*- Á!!!*
*- Ui da!!!*


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## ThomasK

To me the most interesting are the conclusions: what kind of sounds are used ? I am trying to add some temporary conclusions in *bold below *_(so it might be interesting to focus on divergences from or corrections of those temporary conclusions)_:


Some trends I can see:
*- starting with very open vowel (sounding like aa or sharp aa): u seems quite strange to me (except in particular kinds of 'un-sharp' (= ...) pain*
*- diphthongs, or at least long vowels*
*- diphthongs ending in /i/ or /W/(from open to more closed)*

What do you think ? 
*ad (c)*

Some very temporary conclusions from Dutch:
- starting with plosive (b)
- open or close vowel based on format
- m (liquida sound, somehow endless, and soft (fluid ...) : you can go on pronouncing it-

ad (d) see above: the closest and the most open vowel...


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## Nanon

doesn't seem strange to me...
I invite those who read French to take a look at this song (and to listen to it, too, if possible). *"Aïe-aïe-aïe - ouille - aïe !"* is what your average French speaker says when he / she sits on cactuses!


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## ThomasK

Je comprends ! But to me there is some (funny) difference, I now think: we use 'ai' for pain, and 'oei' for a shock (like the cactus, indeed) or a surprise. To me there is quite some difference : oei/ ui to me does not refer to pain. 

I would not know what the English say when surprised or shocked...


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## ThomasK

So far Japanese itta and Indonesian seem the most strange to me (but I might be Eurocentric here): 
 - in Japanese the cry begins with a close vowel: strange to me !
 - the Indonesian : could there be a mix-up/ confusion with swear words (as I can assure you: nowadays even English 4-letter-words will be used in Dutch as well ; just like _damn_ in English), but I would not consider that as having the same status/... as _ouch_, etc.


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## MarX

In Indonesian:

*Aduh!
Au!
*


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## kusurija

In Czech:
Au, jau, jauvais, jauvejs.

In Lithuanian:
Ai, aiai.


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## ThomasK

Just a little amazed that Indonesians can utter pain in two syllables (with a plosive in between) ? Generally I would not have enough... breath for that !


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## MarX

Hi!

I just found another thread which treats the same theme.

Salam,


MarX


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## ThomasK

Thanks. But now i still wonder about the 'Indonesian style of suffering('. I came across Japanese as well: itta (ittatatata) and the structure appears to be the same. 

Oh Lord, there is no logic in all this !


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## MarX

ThomasK said:


> Thanks. But now i still wonder about the 'Indonesian style of suffering('. I came across Japanese as well: itta (ittatatata) and the structure appears to be the same.
> 
> Oh Lord, there is no logic in all this !


Dear ThomasK, I'd love to help you on this, but unfortunately I don't know why we say *aduh*. That's just the way it is. 

Groetjes,


MarX


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## ThomasK

Thanks for feeling pity. I just wonder about Chinese now and some other non-Indo-European languages. Would they express it in other ways as well ? 

Up to now I had thought: 
 - open vowel to begin (gasping for breath)
 - turning into i/ u as a diphthong (indicating length)

But I could not imagine how we could deal with close + plosive + open vowel  (or ov + pl + cv) . I thought of the fact that we sometimes swear instead of expressing pain really. It could not be some form of swearing, could it, KarL ? Just the same  way the American 4-letter-words now work, especially with us (f***, sh**): there is more anger in it than pain, I think...


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## Pierre Lucien

Indonesian _aduh_ may have much to do with _duka_, "pain", etc., which comes from Sanskrit _duhkha_, "suffering"...


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## ThomasK

That is quite some theory: an exclamation containing a lexical word, or at least referring to it. I can't imagine but maybe. But is there a link between Sanskrit and Indonesian ???


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## Pierre Lucien

Maybe, yes, just maybe.

As for Sanskrit and Indonesian, no problem. Except the "new" entries from Dutch, English, Portuguese, etc., the Indonesian vocabulary draws from Malay, of course, Arabic and Sanskrit : there's a plethora of words like _mahasiswa_, "student", _maha_, "great", _sengsara_, "distressed, miserable", etc. etc. which come from Sanskrit. One of my favorites is _anugerah_ (from _anugraha_), "prize", "(divine) favour", etc. Sometimes a word from Sanskrit has a slightly different meaning, like _sengsara_ which comes from Ssk. _saṃsāra_, "circle of births & deaths", but generally the original meaning is kept : what do you think of words like _swalayan_, "self-service", where _swa_ is the same as Ssk. _sva_-, "self" ? ...


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## Orlin

Bulgarian: _ах_ (ah) or _ох_ (oh).


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## ThomasK

Nothing more precise for pain, Orlin ?


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## Lars H

In Swedish: "Aj"


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## Orlin

ThomasK said:


> Nothing more precise for pain, Orlin ?


 
Not completely sure but can't guess.


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## ThomasK

Please don't misunderstand: if you as native speaker say ah or oh when suffering pain, then that is a plain fact. I just hoped there might be something more i'ish or ow'ish afterwards (as I have my theory that there are generally two sounds and the first one is the most open ;-).


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## Fluffster

In Romanian we say "Au!"


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## ThomasK

That fits into my 'scheme' perfectly. I still wonder if any other languages have a bisyllabic word for this cry of pain, like Indonesian.


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
«αχ», «ωχ», «άουτς»
ax, ox, 'auts.
The interjection  «ωχ» prevails by far. «Άουτς» is probably a loan word.


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## Jamaisleño

Jamaican Creole: Woy!


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Aray/ Bisaya: Aduy


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## Copperknickers

In Scotland it's 'ahh!' 'ow!' or sometimes 'ahya!' which I suspect is a shortened form of 'ah, ya bastard!'.


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