Just a few minutes ago I was subjected to a small jolt of static shock. I flinched and said, “ouch!” I then got to thinking about how we often say this specific word when subjected to sudden, but usually minor and brief pain. Sometimes we’ll say “ow!” or “auugh!” (and in some cases, a bout of swearing may follow). Are such utterances (aside from swearing) instinctive and universal to all languages, or do we tend to learn these specific words (ouch and ow) in English as a way to respond to pain? Are there different words or utterances used in other languages that people use when they feel pain?
Pig Latin: Ouchay!
In Spanish it is Ay! (eye)
My cousins in Germany would say “ow-ah!” when pain was encountered.
My wife always says the equivilent of “there’s a small, Mexican dog,” but I’m not sure why.
I guess koreans say “Ai-ya!”
I don’t even say “ouch!” in English. I usually just unleash a string of profanities.
Hay Chiuaua?
In Vietnamese it’s OOH-yah! (spelled phonetically).
I can’t remember ever saying “ouch” in reaction to anything shocking or painful. It’s usually a variation on the Deity’s name, His Son, terms relating to reproduction or defecation, or just something along the lines of “Oww.”
I have wondered the same sort of thing about language variants of interjections in general.
Things like “Haha” and “Whoopee” among others.
In South Africa, it’s Eina! (pronounce ay-na)
In Japanese it’s “itai!” Some places in Europe I’ve heard people make a noise like “oof”
Cantonese: Aiiiiiiii!
Swedish: “aj!” or “bork bork bork” if you cut yourself on a knife when preparing food.
In Québec French its Ayoye (pronounced A-yoy) or ouch
NPR’s All Things Considered just did a story on this called “Ouch! The Language of Pain.” I remember hearing the start of it, but I got to my destination and had to bail.
I think you can hear the report here.
In France French it’s “Aie!”, with a diuresis on the i. Pronounced roughly “eye”.
In Dutch it’s ‘au’, pronounced like a cross between ‘ouch’ and ‘ow’ (thus like ‘ouw’). Of course, with the heavy influence of U.S. movies, these days people simply say ‘shit!’.
Don’t the Germans also say ‘autsch’ (pronounced, predictably enough, exactly like ‘ouch’)?
A previous poster said that the Japanese say “Itai!” They do, and when it REALLY hurts, they go “I------taitaitaitaitaitai!” Which is rather cute.
Most English speakers would add more or less colourful swearing to help things along but you can’t swear very satisfactorily in Japanese, so you don’t get that relief.
My bilingual toddler says “poorly taitai” which means he gets sympathy from both sides of the family!
Norwegian: au
Pronounced differently in diffferent parts of the country.
When no children are around swearing is prefered by some people ( or in some parts of the country swearing is prefered even when children are around).