Is “ow” a universal expression of pain? When something lands on my foot I automatically yell “ow”, but is that because it’s an instinct or is it the language I’m used to and I just don’t think about it when yelling it? If not, what are the expressions of pain in other languages?
In Russian it’s “aah”, “aii”, “oy” but never “ow” barring for some weird regionalism. My WAG would be that “ow” comes from “ouch”, being the first syllable and all (or is it two syllables?)
I don’t have any answers for you, I just wanted to add that I always wonder this same thing about the ‘Awwwwww’ noise everybody makes (or seems to make) when they see something cute.
It’s cultural or linguistic. There’s probably nothing universal. In Japanese, the equivalents of “ow” or “ouch” are itei or itai.
I usually exclaim sudden pain with one of the following:
“Fuck!”
“Shit!”
“Ass!”
I find I only utter “Ow” if I’m thinking clearly when I get hurt (as in, if it’s a small or non-painful hurt). If it really hurts, I’m more likely to make a sort of “Aaaah” or growl through clenched teeth. Or both.
If it really, really hurts then it’s a “m0therfcking fckjabber” or something of the kind.
It’s ‘ai’ in French, or ‘aiyurrr!!!’ if it really hurts.
Anecdotally, after spending a year in France, I found myself automatically saying ‘ai’ instead of ‘ow’. This would seem to back up Sleel’s assertion.
Completely at a tangent, but in the war comic books of my youth (in the 1980s!), the Japanese would always scream AAAAYIIIIIEEE! as they were shot, the Germans would shout AAAARRRGGGHHH! and the allies (whether British, American, Russian or whatever) would just let out a muffled UGH! before continuing as if nothing had happened.
OB
Honestly, I think if you go deep enough, when you really hurt, pretty much every says something like: Aaaaa! (With a sort of gurgling noise in the back of the throat)
Aaaaaiiiooooooo!
Now that’s interesting…I have a friend who’s into Dragonball Z and he forced me to watch some episodes with him once in the original Japanese language, and I laughed pretty hard when a character was attacked with a series of fast gut-punches while screaming, “tie-ei-ei-tie-ei-ei-ei-tie-ei!” in a really high-pitched voice.
Now I know how insensitive I am to laugh at another culture’s hilarious exclamations.
“Ouch!” in German appears to be Autsch!
French women go “aii!” when you push your chair backward and roll one of the wheels over their foot.
Or so I’m told.
I actually hear myself saying “frak!” now. I roll my eyes at myself even while chuckling.