# Jewish people saying "oy"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937 "2008-07-28T17:27:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/1 "2008-07-28T17:27:29Z")
Do jewish people really say this? I don’t have any jewish friends, but I get the impression from TV that its a common word. If you’re Jewish is it something that you are taught, does it mean something? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/2 "2008-07-28T17:32:50Z")
My partner is jewish and his family will say that when they get into their “jewish characters”. I don’t know of a better way to say that, but it’s a bit of play acting and they start speaking in English/Yiddish and say “Oy! It’s a shaundah”(Sp?) My paternal grandparents are Swedish and I grew up saying “uff da” all the time and I got it from them so I’m guessing that it’s similar. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/3 "2008-07-28T17:35:59Z")
[In case you need a broad definition…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oy_vey) ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/4 "2008-07-28T17:39:07Z")
Thanks ASAK, interesting article. So I would use it like “Oy, the boards have gone down!”. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/5 "2008-07-28T18:09:15Z")
[QUOTE=samarm] Thanks ASAK, interesting article. So I would use it like “Oy, the boards have gone down!”. [/QUOTE] Try, “_Oy, vey ismir!_ The boards _kaput!_” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/6 "2008-07-28T18:18:08Z")
[QUOTE=samarm] Do jewish people really say this? [/QUOTE] Well, I’m Jewish, and I never say “oy”. None of the other Jews i know say “oy”. In fact, everybody I’ve ever met who says “oy” is a gentile. I know an evangelical Christian who uses it in every other sentence, like Canadians say “eh?”. Also, I only use my SUV for hauling loaded horse trailers. 😃 Okay … that was my Doperland response. In reality, yes, many Jews say “oy”, sometimes when they’re in their “Jewish character” as **stpauler** describes, sometimes as a substitute for a grunt ot sigh, sometimes under other situations. It’s not something we say _all_ the time, but it’s all that uncommon. My father grew up in a Yiddish-speaking houseshold, and he mostly uses “oy” in vocalizing a grunt or sigh, but that’s about it. He doesn’t go around as if acting a part in a Mel Brooks movie and saying it at every opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/7 "2008-07-28T18:51:07Z")
Yes, we Jews really do say this. It’s kind of an all-purpose exclamation of unhappiness. “Oy vey” is the long form, but “oy” alone does a fine enough job of punctuating the statement that follows with the correct emotional flavor. It’s not something you’re “taught”, it’s something you pick up from the adults around you. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/8 "2008-07-28T19:01:59Z")
I say it, but I’m not Jewish. My mom’s mom was Yiddish and said it quite a bit, I guess. My mom says “Oy vey” or “Oy-yoi-yoi” to express frustration, disappointment, annoyance. I got it from her. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/9 "2008-07-28T19:07:28Z")
[QUOTE=samarm] …but I get the impression from TV that its a common word. [/QUOTE] Television has misled you. People say it way more in real life than they do on TV. At least around here. And we might as well compile a list of oy-related words and expressions. I’ll start: Oy! Oy oy oy! Oy vey! Oy vey ist mir! Oy gevalt! Gevalt! Goodness gracious! The members of the tribe certainly do have a lot of ways of expressing unhappiness! Apparently, we have tsuris… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/10 "2008-07-28T19:24:44Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] Oy oy oy! [/QUOTE] Oogie oogie oogie? Wait, that can’t be right… ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/11 "2008-07-28T19:32:14Z")
I have a Jewish client with an “OY!” tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/12 "2008-07-28T19:34:56Z")
“Oy Vey” is Pig Latin for “Voy” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/13 "2008-07-28T19:36:37Z")
I’m Jewish. I say “oy.” All of the Jews I know say “oy.” It’s a non-obscene, non-offensive, non-oath interjection. “Oy vey iz mir! My ring went down the disposal!” not “Fuck! fuck! fucking Jesus fucking Christ! My ring went down the disposal!” ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/14 "2008-07-28T19:40:30Z")
Another Jewish ‘oy’-speaker here. Also, ‘oy vey!’ and ‘oy gevalt’. My English friends are quizzical, I like to keep them on their toes 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/15 "2008-07-28T19:47:04Z")
As Leo Rosten so nicely summed it up: _Oy_ is not a word. _Oy_ is a vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/16 "2008-07-28T20:19:08Z")
I picked it up from the orthodox Jewish family that semi-adopted me when I was in college. My favorite variants are “oy” and “oy gevalt”. I almost never say “oy vey”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/17 "2008-07-28T20:20:13Z")
Heck, assumedly gentile Eddie Grant even whips “Oy!” out in his 1982 hit “Electric Avenue”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/18 "2008-07-28T20:25:50Z")
I’m not even Jewish, I’m just from NYC. I have said Oy for as long as I can remember. I say it way more often than my Jewish wife. I use \*oy vey \* very often. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/19 "2008-07-28T20:33:33Z")
Oy is popular among both Jews and non-Jews in NYC for sure. Yiddish slang is rather popular in general in NYC - a local newspaper recently ranked the 23rd Street crosstown bus as “the Schleppiest” without having to define that term for the local audience. (Adjectivization of the Yiddish word “schlep” = an exhausting and/or aggravating journey (“Getting to LaGuardia airport on the bus is a real schlep. Next time I’ll splurge on a cab.”)). It strikes me that Yiddish contains many useful words to describe mild aggravation and/or inconvenience, states that New Yorkers live in nearly perpetually. “Oy” speaker, NYC resident, Jew. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/20 "2008-07-28T20:39:45Z")
It is very important not to confuse “Oy, oy, oy!” with its homonym, “Oi oi oi!!” VERY important. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937.md?page=2)