# "Uh-oh" in other languages. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779 "2014-06-01T17:21:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/21 "2014-06-02T03:37:21Z")
Two Greek guys in my dorm used to say something that sounded like “Ach vé vé” which seemed to be something like uh oh based on context. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/22 "2014-06-02T07:15:46Z")
In Japanese we would say “shimatta”. (しまった)　The literal meaning of this is “the end” and is meant to signify the end of something progressing positively. The English equivalent is “oh-oh” or “damn it”. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/23 "2014-06-02T08:20:04Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > In Japanese we would say “shimatta”. (しまった)　The literal meaning of this is “the end” and is meant to signify the end of something progressing positively. The English equivalent is “oh-oh” or “damn it”. There’s also “yabai” or “yaba” which is used for “dangerous” but also where in English wemay say “shit” or “crap” or something equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/24 "2014-06-02T09:07:22Z")
Although not impossible, “yabai” is not used as an interjection and is more an adjective to describe (as you mentioned) a dangerous or seedy person or situation. Besides, yabai can now be used to describe both negative and positive things, much like the English word “bad”. Ex: “Anohito yabai!” can mean both “That person is seedy!” and “That person is cool!” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/25 "2014-06-02T20:16:22Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > “I shit in the milk” ? What’s \*that \*about ?! 😕 The milk being either his mother’s milk as previously mentioned (that is, the milk on which the person who annoyed you was fed) or his father’s semen. So, an indirect way of _merde_ing on whomever has annoyed you. It is rarely explicited so clearly, of course. Something along the lines of _me cago en la leche que le dieron al caballo que llevó al cura que lo bautizó_ is generally considered more creative and thus preferable (I shit on the milk which was fed to the horse on which the priest who baptize him rode (to the baptism)). But yeah, the official version is what **Sr Siete** said (_oh-oh_ or _oh oh_, which have been around for quite a while), with **jerez** ’ contributions being variations that imply a greater degree of feeling and a lack of your grandmother’s presence. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/26 "2014-06-02T21:08:12Z")
I think “uh-oh” is rather new in American English. In my childhood and maybe through the 60s, it was a definite, clear “oh-oh”, like pronouncing the letter O twice, with a glottal stop between, lower pitch on the second one. This is confirmed by the Ngram viewer: > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=uh-oh%2Coh-oh&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cuh%20-%20oh%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Coh%20-%20oh%3B%2Cc0)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/27 "2014-06-03T00:17:26Z")
Japanese has a few options, with different connotations. I think that “daa” is the closest to English “Uh-oh”, but there’s also “shimatta”, “gaa”, “yada-wa”, “uso”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/28 "2014-06-03T04:23:31Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > Although not impossible, “yabai” is not used as an interjection and is more an adjective to describe (as you mentioned) a dangerous or seedy person or situation. I certainly ran across it used as an interjection, although its use as an adjective is more common. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/29 "2014-06-03T04:48:26Z")
I can’t stop thinking of the Family Guy joke where Peter yells “Uh-Oh!” after pooping his pants… or something. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/30 "2014-06-03T06:30:29Z")
In Dutch there is also “oh ooh”, but perhaps more commonly “o jee” [oh yay]. Dog language also has uh-oh, but it has the specific meaning “delicious food has been spilled onto the floor”. Dogs can hear uh-oh from miles away, even if they are old and stone deaf. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/31 "2014-06-03T08:50:30Z")
_Ayo!_ in Malay. _¡Huay!_ (pronounced like “why”) in Spanish of Yucatán (a region of Mexico), which is influenced by the (Yucatec) Maya language. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/32 "2014-06-03T12:27:19Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > In Dutch there is also “oh ooh”, but perhaps more commonly “o jee” [oh yay]. Almost exactly like in German, where it’s “o oh” or “oh je”, respectively. I wonder if the former is a recent adaption from the English “uh oh”, while the latter is more antiquated. There’s also “oh jemine”, which sounds even more old-fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/33 "2014-06-03T16:13:18Z")
Koreans use a general purpose expletive “iagu” (pronounced eye-goo). I have no idea what it literally translates to, but they use it where we might say things like, “darn,” “uh oh,” or “oops.” ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/34 "2014-06-03T20:38:37Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Almost exactly like in German, where it’s “o oh” or “oh je”, respectively. I wonder if the former is a recent adaption from the English “uh oh”, while the latter is more antiquated. There’s also “oh jemine”, which sounds even more old-fashioned. Ojee and o jemine come from “o Jezus”. We have “jemine” and variants in Dutch too! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/35 "2014-06-03T21:42:58Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > Ojee and o jemine come from “o Jezus”. We have “jemine” and variants in Dutch too! That’s funny, after posting I thought about what a strange word “jemine” is, and I came to the conclusion that it and “oh je” must come from avoiding to use the Lord’s name in vain in the old days. Thanks for confirming my guess. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779/36 "2014-06-03T22:24:51Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Sometimes also “Oups”, which is, well, “Oops” written the French way… At my workplace in Montreal, a francophone environment, instead of saying “oops,” people say “oop-a-lye” (totally not sure how it’s spelled.) Never heard it anywhere else. Maybe it’s a French Canadian thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-in-other-languages/689779.md?page=1)