# 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:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/41 "2008-07-29T16:58:41Z")
My MIL says it (not so much my FIL). Both are Jews. My spouse does it also (also Jewish, though not practicing). Moon Unit (my 11 year old daughter) says it! And so do I sometimes also (I’m a complete shicksa). Iin daughter’s case and mine, it’s from hearing it from the in-laws. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/42 "2008-07-29T17:18:17Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] Heck, assumedly gentile Eddie Grant even whips “Oy!” out in his 1982 hit “Electric Avenue”. [/QUOTE] I always figured he was saying “oi!” (British for “hey!” with an implied “wtf?”; as in, “Oi! You’re knicking my beer!”) and not “oy.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937/43 "2008-07-30T02:31:53Z")
I live in Texas now, but grew up in New York City, ann heard it all the time, from both Jews and Gentiles. After a while, almost all New Yorkers embrace certain Yiddishisms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-people-saying-oy/457937.md?page=2)