# Woah vs Whoa
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 19, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642 "2010-10-19T09:05:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/1 "2010-10-19T09:05:03Z")
I have seen both spellings, usually **Whoa** when it’s an exclamation of a Keanu Reeves-style; and **Woah** when it’s trying to stop a horse.
Which do you use, and which is right?
---
### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/2 "2010-10-19T09:12:34Z")
Whoa is right in both cases. When Keanu Reeves uses it, he’s just saying “Stop!”, which is what whoa means to a horse.
There are people who will write wallah when they mean voila. This is the same thing, it’s an attempt to write down a word that someone has only heard.
Another amusing mistake is people talking about bedroom “suits”, when they mean suites. And they do pronounce it “suit” as in a suit of clothing.
---
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/3 "2010-10-19T09:26:36Z")
I agree it’s the same word, but I’ve definitely seen the spelling distinction. It may be regional (UK/US variant).
---
### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/4 "2010-10-19T10:21:40Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Whoa is right in both cases. When Keanu Reeves uses it, he’s just saying “Stop!”, which is what whoa means to a horse.
Yep. Agreed.
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> There are people who will write wallah when they mean voila. This is the same thing, it’s an attempt to write down a word that someone has only heard.
People write wallah when they mean voila? Heh. I’ve never seen that, but find it quite humorous :).
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Another amusing mistake is people talking about bedroom “suits”, when they mean suites. And they do pronounce it “suit” as in a suit of clothing.
Now this I have heard, and often. And you cannot convince those who employ the term that they’re incorrect. They truly believe it is pronounced “bedroom suit” as in a suit of clothing.
---
### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/5 "2010-10-19T11:25:53Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> People write wallah when they mean voila? Heh. I’ve never seen that, but find it quite humorous :).
>
> Now this I have heard, and often. And you cannot convince those who employ the term that they’re incorrect. They truly believe it is pronounced “bedroom suit” as in a suit of clothing.
Yep, they write walla. And they WILL NOT listen to anyone who tells them different. Same with suit/suite. The misuse is in print and TV and radio ads. Apparently, not enough will understand what a bedroom “sweet” is, but everyone knows what a bedroom suit is. I know what they MEAN when they say suit, and it makes me grind my teeth.
My personal theory for the changing pronunciation of suite is that people saw the word in print ads (in catalogs and such), and just decided to ignore that extra E at the end. It seems to be mostly people who have country and/or lowerclass backgrounds who pronounce it as suit, and these same people will misspell voila. My guess is that they never had to take French in school, and they never read any stories with the words spelled properly, with an endnote.
And what’s up with the e on shite? Just another way to foil the autocensors in some programs?
---
### Author:  [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/6 "2010-10-19T11:54:57Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> And what’s up with the e on shite? Just another way to foil the autocensors in some programs?
No, it’s indicating that the word’s pronounced with a “long” i sound (so it rhymes with “bite”, rather than “bit”).
It’s a common word in Britain and Ireland.
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/7 "2010-10-19T13:05:29Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> People write wallah when they mean voila? Heh. I’ve never seen that, but find it quite humorous :).
Well, stop that smiling toot sweet! 😛
---
### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/8 "2010-10-19T13:20:47Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> I have seen both spellings, usually **Whoa** when it’s an exclamation of a Keanu Reeves-style; and **Woah** when it’s trying to stop a horse.
>
> Which do you use, and which is right?
“Whoa” means “stop.” “Woah” is just a moaning sound, as in “woah-wo-wo” or “woah-oh-oh,” without any actual meaning. To use “woah” when one means “stop” is absolutely wrong.
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/9 "2010-10-19T13:24:45Z")
I didn’t think Keanu Reeves was using it to mean, “Stop,” just more like, “Wow.” Or “Dude.” I still voted for “Whoa” but sometimes I’ll think or type out “Woah” when I mean it in the Blossom/Keanu Reeves way.
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/10 "2010-10-19T13:33:00Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> I didn’t think Keanu Reeves was using it to mean, “Stop,” just more like, “Wow.” Or “Dude.” I still voted for “Whoa” but sometimes I’ll think or type out “Woah” when I mean it in the Blossom/Keanu Reeves way.
Or ‘Whoa. Wait a minute… That’s awesome.’ Or ‘Whoa. Dude.’ In both cases, ‘Stop.’ In usage it certainly can be ‘wow’. It seems to be sliding from one sense to another, or having both meanings simultaneously. Not that anyone really thinks about it when they say it. Spelling it the way a stoner says it is something I haven’t really figured out yet.
Say, did you know that Captain Cook was on 'ludes when he sailed up to Hawaii? Yeah, he went over to the rail, brought his hand up to shield his eyes, squinted, and said, ‘Oh, wa-hu!’
---
### Author:  [@Gilliver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilliver)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/11 "2010-10-19T13:34:34Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> There are people who will write wallah when they mean voila. This is the same thing, it’s an attempt to write down a word that someone has only heard.
>
> Another amusing mistake is people talking about bedroom “suits”, when they mean suites. And they do pronounce it “suit” as in a suit of clothing.
I am banging my head on the wall over here !!
I know how to spell voila and I know what a bedroom suite is.
But I never never never (until reading this post, that is) realized that the written bedroom suite is pronounced bedroom ‘sweet’. I have always pronounced it bedroom suit. EVEN THOUGH I HAVE HEARD THE TERM BEDROOM SWEET USED ! I never put two and two together and realized that a bedroom sweet was really just the correct pronunciation for bedroom suite.
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/12 "2010-10-19T13:41:16Z")
Isn’t a ‘bedroom sweet’ that little chocolate hotels put on the pillow?
---
### Author:  [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/13 "2010-10-19T17:05:19Z")
My sister-in-law works to project a sophisticated image. She used the word “facade” several times in a conversion, but pronounced it ‘fah-KAYD’ instead of ‘fah-SAHD’.
I guess she had read it and was trying to work it into her normal vocabulary, but never connected it with the word that I’m sure she had heard before. This is the reverse of most such errors I’ve come across (or made myself) where the mistake is the spelling, not the pronunciaton.
BTW, my wife wouldn’t let me correct her, but I think that’s like not telling someone they have spinach in their teeth.
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/14 "2010-10-19T18:06:32Z")
I would tend to pronoune “woah” in my head in more of a stoner-voice than “whoa”; under some circumstances I might spell it that way for effect.
---
### Author:  [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/15 "2010-10-19T18:20:58Z")
Whoa for stopping a horse and most of the rest of the time. Woah if I am being particularly Keanu.
---
### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/16 "2010-10-19T19:08:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> I agree it’s the same word, but I’ve definitely seen the spelling distinction. It may be regional (UK/US variant).
And it might just be bad spelling. Which knows no region. It’s always “whoa.”\* Pronounced with more or less vehemence or Keanuness as needed.
\*Except, “Whoa is me” is just wrong. “Woe,” people.
---
### Author:  [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/17 "2010-10-19T19:12:49Z")
Keanu and Joey from Blossom both say “Woah,” as do people who sound like them. It’s its own word and different than “Whoa.”
When I read “and wallah,” I get a mental picture of “and there’s the servant” and giggle a bit before bemoaning the state of American education.
---
### Author:  [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/18 "2010-10-19T21:02:50Z")
Woah is just fundamentally wrong. That combination of letters cannot legitimately be pronounced as a homophone of “woe.” That combination of letters could only legitimately be pronounced as a rhyme with the name Noah, as in he of the ark. Woah was someone’s pathetic misspelling which became viral. It must stop.
---
### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/19 "2010-10-19T21:31:17Z")
I assumed “woah” was to imitate people who don’t know how to spell. It’s not a real word.
---
### Author:  [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642/20 "2010-10-19T21:41:09Z")
‘Whoa’ is the only one I consider correct. ‘Woah’ looks like the Hipster Holocaust.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-vs-whoa/557642.md?page=2)