# what does shew (slang) mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387 "2013-01-16T15:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/1 "2013-01-16T15:57:44Z")
I have yoga-loving vegan free-spirit-type friend who occasionally puts “shew” in her emails. I haven’t been able to get an answer from google that seems to match. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/2 "2013-01-16T16:08:14Z")
In what context does she use “shew”? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/3 "2013-01-16T16:24:51Z")
> [@TGWATY](#): > > I have yoga-loving vegan free-spirit-type friend who occasionally puts “shew” in her emails. I haven’t been able to get an answer from google that seems to match. “Shew” is an archaic form of “show.” [shew - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shew) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/4 "2013-01-16T16:26:19Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > In what context does she use “shew”? I’m guessing it was regarding things that were really big. ---
**Author:** ![KermitTheFrig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/47e85d/32.png) [@KermitTheFrig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KermitTheFrig)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/5 "2013-01-16T16:29:31Z")
Where are you/she from? Around here (Mass./Rhode Island) some people say “whew” more like “shew.” So when they mean “Whew, that was a tough workout,” it sounds like “shew.” Maybe? ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/6 "2013-01-16T16:30:36Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I’m guessing it was regarding things that were really big. In case the OP misses the reference: [Ed Sullivan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sullivan). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/7 "2013-01-16T16:31:44Z")
> [@KermitTheFrig](#): > > Where are you/she from? Around here (Mass./Rhode Island) some people say “whew” more like “shew.” So when they mean “Whew, that was a tough workout,” it sound like “shew.” Shuh! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/8 "2013-01-16T16:35:00Z")
Don’t you mean “SHOO-wah”? (Thinking of Ellen Greene’s turn in _Little Shop of Horrors_. We laugh like hell every time she hits that word.) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/9 "2013-01-16T17:32:27Z")
Tom Sawyer’s wife says “Shoh! It’s that horrible murder!” at one point. Same interjection differently spelled I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/10 "2013-01-16T17:48:38Z")
It’s a Southern affectation: “Shoo, it’s hot!” “Shoooo, it’s been a long day”. Equivalent to “Whoo!” “Shew” is a cutesy spelling used in text and emails. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/11 "2013-01-16T18:07:09Z")
Also spelled “pshew”, though not often. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/12 "2013-01-16T18:23:03Z")
> [@TGWATY](#): > > I have yoga-loving vegan free-spirit-type friend who occasionally puts “shew” in her emails. I haven’t been able to get an answer from google that seems to match. Is there some etiquette thing that prevents you from just asking her what it means? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/13 "2013-01-16T18:33:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Also spelled “pshew”, though not often. That’s the sound a gun makes. ---
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/14 "2013-01-16T18:37:24Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Is there some etiquette thing that prevents you from just asking her what it means? It’s more fun this way. ---
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/15 "2013-01-16T18:41:32Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > It’s a Southern affectation: “Shoo, it’s hot!” “Shoooo, it’s been a long day”. Equivalent to “Whoo!” > > “Shew” is a cutesy spelling used in text and emails. This is it. I had thought it was some kind of well-wishing term borrowed from another language. but looking back I see this fits. Thanks, all! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/16 "2013-01-16T19:01:19Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > It’s a Southern affectation: “Shoo, it’s hot!” “Shoooo, it’s been a long day”. Equivalent to “Whoo!” > > “Shew” is a cutesy spelling used in text and emails. This is also heard as “shoo weee”, at least in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-shew-slang-mean/647387/17 "2013-01-16T19:30:14Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Shew” is an archaic form of “show.” [shew - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shew) The local buses when I was a kid had notices telling you that “tickets must be _shewn_ when requested”.