Ojojoj swing it like you mean it5/11/2024 ![]() Also, in Portuguese, "oi!" means "hi", while the interrogative "oi?" can be used in the sense of "what did you say?", usually showing disapproval or mistrust of something said previously, or "yes?", generally when answering the telephone or intercom. Coincidentally, the term oi (おい) in informal Japanese is used in the same way as British English, typically by older men to subordinates an elongated ōi is used when someone is at a distance. In Latin, the similar "oiei" was a cry of pain. ![]() So I got curious about the origins of this apparently innocent and forgettable interjection, and this is what wiki says:Īccording to Friedrich Nietzsche, in Greek, "oi" was an expression of pain, and someone who was in pain or miserable was said to be "oizuros". ![]() I also remember being quite confused the first time I stumbled upon "oy vey". I know that in (Cockney) English it's used in a totally different way and I remember being surprised to hear it for the first time. Either way, I'm almost sure people in Romania don't use "oi", at least not in this way, so it must be a relatively recent borrowing. Now, I don't know if this is a Russian influence which caught on during the Soviet era, if it's a Jewish influence (there used to be a significant number of Jews before WWII), or if it's a combination of both. In Moldova, people sometimes use "oi" to express either a kind of surprise mixed with fright or as a way of saying "oops" or "ouch", almost exactly as it is used in Russian.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |