At least in American English, “uh-oh” is a meaningful utterance: an interjection, according to Merriam Webster, “used when you realize that you are in a bad situation, that you have made a mistake, etc.; or used to indicate dismay or concern.”
Those who speak other languages – is there an equivalent to “uh-oh,” used similarly? Or are there other similar inarticulate interjections?
In Spanish we just repeat the “O” sound. It can be spelled in other ways, but I write it “Oh Oh…”
Today’s young Norwegians are very influenced by English, so uh-oh might be creeping in, but I think the older generations would be more likely to use “oi” or “å expletive”
More common, IMO, are:
“¡Vaya!”
“Jo-der” (distinctly separating the syllables) or its euphemism “Jo-pe”
However, if economy of expression isn’t a concern and you prefer to leave no doubt as to what you’re feeling, nothing beats a heartfelt “¡Me cago en la leche!”
“Aduh” in Indonesian is kind of an all purpose interjection. Varying the tone and context can give clues, of course. It’s generally used to express surprise or alarm at something negative.
“Wah” has similar usage, but tends to be used in more positive situations. More like Wow than Oh.
No more “uff dah”? 
Talking cartoon Hanna-Barbera dogs: Ruh-roh.
Using “Uff da” that way is more of a Norwegian American thing, in my experience. My personal use is pretty much limited to using it as a response to tales of woe. “I fell off my chair yesterday and broke my coccyx!” “Uff, da!”
Not exactly “uh-oh” but the similar “annoyed grunt” from The Simpsons has gone around the world.
I have a friend online who lives in Germany. Says, “oh uh” every single time. Also confuses “mystery” with “miracle” frequently. Says “Yeah” instead of “Yay” which at first I took badly but then I realized that is how it is done/spelled there. But otherwise is a very good writer of English.
Sarcasm was denoted by the wink.
ωχ is the greek equivalent, pronounced och
In French, they tend to go oh là là in cases like this.
Yes and no. “Oh là là” (the second là is often trailed - oh la laaaaa) is indeed used as an expression of dismay in some situations, to mean things like “this is going to require so much work” or “I’m in waaaay over my head, aren’t I ?”; other times it’s plain exasperation, or awe and amazement, or “this is going to hurt”, or sexual encouragement - it’s a *very *versatile expression :).
That being said, I’m not sure it captures the exact same feeling of “I realize this very instant that I did something very stupid” or otherwise impending doom as “uh oh” does in English. Whereas “Oh, oh” does, and we say it too. In the same intonation as English, too : rising first Oh, lower/trailing second oh.
Sometimes also “Oups”, which is, well, “Oops” written the French way; or “oh merde”. But not “Et merde”, which is what you say when you already knew something you were doing/watching could have negative consequences and those have just materialized.
[QUOTE=jerez]
However, if economy of expression isn’t a concern and you prefer to leave no doubt as to what you’re feeling, nothing beats a heartfelt “¡Me cago en la leche!”
[/QUOTE]
“I shit in the milk” ? What’s *that *about ?! 
Thanks for the answers, all – very interesting!
Keep 'em coming!
I’ve heard something like “Ay-yah” expressing something like that sentiment in Chinese, but have no personal experience of anything in that language.
I stand corrected.
Often used by Hemingway in For Whom the Bell Tolls. The full expression is Me cago en la leche de tu puta madre, “I shit in the milk of your whore mother” (and variants). Let us say that it is not really an equivalent of “uh-oh.”
Ah, I see. Colourful :).
There are interjections in Thai that sound like ‘uh-oh’
โอ๊ะโอ๋ (Google translates this as ‘oops’)
or ‘oh ho’
โอ้โห๋
โอ้โห๋ว
โอ้โฮ
Thais have adopted many English words, including perhaps these.