from the context in which I’ve seen it, I gather it’s some sort of scandanavian term, but that’s all I’ve got. 
In actual use (as I learned while I was a child in MN) it’s roughly equivalent to “whew” – a sort of verbal grunt of exertion. Imagine lifting a heavy box… uff-da.
Uff da is how Norwegians say oy vey. 
a very handy multipurpose word. the scan. version of the yiddish oy vey.
Yup, Scandanavian. It’s a direct equivalent to “Oh Jeez”, which is kinda dumb since the Norse-types use both equally. Personally I think they just do that to show off their expaned vocabulary. 
Thanks for the education. I thought it was a toast. :smack:
i could be a toast.
after a day of helping your friend move, you are tired out, drapped around the boxes and covered furniture. you all lift a can or bottle of beverage and say, “uff da!”.
Maybe you’re thinking of the Greek exclamation Opa!
Although Wikipedia mentions “‘Uff da’ is still commonly used in contemporary Norwegian” I have been told by a couple of Norwegians that it is not in common use. At least this was the case in the Surnadal area, a bit southeast of Trondheim. The friends I met there said that Uff da was mostly heard by Americans returning to the mother country and although known, was archaic. If the friends are to be believed, Norwegians in that area stopped using it in the early 1900s.
It is, however, a big part on Minnesotan culture and has one variant “Ish da.”
Person 1: “And then he fell face first in the cow manure.”
Person 2: “Uff da!”
Person 3: “Ish da!!”
Well this Norwegian would agree with Wikipedia. Not completely, but that might be just poor self-knowledge. I do know I’m likely to use it in the sympathetic sense. Almost any response to someone’s tale of injury or accident or hurt feelings or … is likely to start with Uffda.
You can’t escape it (nor seemingly anything else Scandinavian) around here.
This is how I’ve heard it used, and used it myself.
But then the very next sentence:
WTF?
Well I’m going to believe a living, breathing, posting Doper from Norway over my memory of a conversation from 15 years ago. I stand/sit corrected, although it may be possible that for the district I was in, uff da is not widely used any more. I confess that I am not sure any more.
I was wondering what this post meant!
SDMB! What a great place for serendipity and synchronicity! 
You know, it never really occurred to me that that would confuse anyone. I only lived in Minnesnowta for two years, after all…I didn’t think I assimilated that quickly! 
“Uff” is a multi-purpose exclamation, and “da” is a general-purpose intensifier or space-filler. The result being that Norwegians say “uff da” a lot more often than most of them think they do 
Think of the phrase as meaning “Oops”, “Oh dear”, or “Whew”, depending on context.