# Ow! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214 "2005-10-21T04:08:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phatso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@Phatso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatso)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/1 "2005-10-21T04:08:08Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/2 "2005-10-21T04:24:04Z")
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?) ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/3 "2005-10-21T04:50:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/4 "2005-10-21T07:02:36Z")
It’s cultural or linguistic. There’s probably nothing universal. In Japanese, the equivalents of “ow” or “ouch” are _itei_ or _itai_. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/5 "2005-10-21T07:12:06Z")
I usually exclaim sudden pain with one of the following: “Fuck!” “Shit!” “Ass!” ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/6 "2005-10-21T07:38:27Z")
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 “m0therf_cking f_ckjabber” or something of the kind. ---
**Author:** ![Fortean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fortean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortean)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/7 "2005-10-21T11:46:33Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/8 "2005-10-21T12:33:46Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/9 "2005-10-21T13:38:20Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/10 "2005-10-21T13:50:15Z")
Aaaaaiiiooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Phatso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@Phatso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatso)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/11 "2005-10-21T19:10:32Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > It’s cultural or linguistic. There’s probably nothing universal. In Japanese, the equivalents of “ow” or “ouch” are _itei_ or _itai_. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/12 "2005-10-21T19:27:09Z")
“Ouch!” in German appears to be _[Autsch!](http://www.autsch.de/)_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/13 "2005-10-21T19:35:30Z")
French women go “aii!” when you push your chair backward and roll one of the wheels over their foot. Or so I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow/327214/14 "2005-10-21T19:47:00Z")
I actually hear myself saying “frak!” now. I roll my eyes at myself even while chuckling.