# Vocalizations of disgust in French? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573 "2010-09-21T19:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oukile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@Oukile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oukile)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573/21 "2010-09-22T17:00:47Z")
French here. My first thought is ‘beurk’. ‘Pouah’ and 'Aaah dégueu !" will be common too. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573/22 "2010-09-22T17:01:22Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > One you’ll hear sometimes is “Aaaah dégueu !” ([degœ]). I’ll often hear just the “aaaah”, as you typed it (or a similar noise which doesn’t really sound the way it’s spelled here - I can’t seem to figure out how to represent the sound!) Ouach is, IME, more common than beurk, and I hear dégueu a lot. Some people in Québec seem to have adopted the English “ewww” as well, particularly if they are bilingual. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573/23 "2010-09-22T20:08:20Z")
Thanks for all the replies. It was one of those “Ask X the answer to this question – He’ll know!” situations. In this case, of course, X had no clue. The Teeming Millions have, however, saved his reputation yet again. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573/24 "2010-09-22T20:19:57Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Can you call them “vocalizations of disgust”? I think they’re more like interjections of dismay. Yeah, "Merde! and “Zut!” are used in the same context as “Shit!” and “Nuts!” or “Doh!” Not so much in the context of “Ewwww.” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573/25 "2010-09-23T01:57:36Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > > [@Kobal2](#): > > > > One you’ll hear sometimes is “Aaaah dégueu !” ([degœ]). “Dégueu” is short for “dégueulasse”, itself a slang word/Parisianism for “dégoûtant”. Which means disgusting. > > I don’t think it’s a Parisianism, because I hear it here too. I didn’t mention it since it’s an actual word, not just a sound. > > > [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > > > My Quebecoise wife says “ouffe” in this context. > > I guess “ouf” could work for disgust, but as **BigT** said it’s generally used to represent the sound you make when you’re winded. I can see someone making a face and going “ouffe!” if they were disgusted by a bad _smell_, specifically. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573/26 "2010-09-23T02:36:23Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > My Quebecoise wife says “ouffe” in this context. Supered in an opera this summer that was directed, I believe, by a Quebecois. He was quite fond of this particular interjection. Contextually, it had as much frustration or somewhat humorous long-suffering patience as disgust; he’d generally heave an “euf” when we were doing something wrong, stupid, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocalizations-of-disgust-in-french/554573.md?page=1)