Ouch / Ow / Owie / Youch / Yow / Yowch | WordReference Forums

• Forums Rules/Help/FAQ Help/FAQ Members Current visitors Interface Language

Dictionary search: English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish English definition English synonyms English collocations English usage Italian definition Spanish definition Spanish synonyms Catalan definition Spanish conjugation French conjugation Italian conjugation English conjugation Log in Register What's new Search

Search

This forum This thread Threads Everywhere Search titles and first posts only Search titles only Note By: Search Advanced search…

• Rules/Help/FAQ Help/FAQ
• Members Current visitors
• Interface Language

Menu Log in Register Install the app Install How to install the app on iOS

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

• English Only
• English Only

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. ouch / ow / owie / youch / yow / yowch

• Thread starter Thread starter Carlos Eduardo
• Start date Start date May 18, 2015

C

Carlos Eduardo

Senior Member

Portuguese - Brazil Hello, everyone, What's the difference among <ouch><ow><owie><youch><yow><yowch>? Are they interchangeable in the sentences below? Could I use all of them in the place of "ouch" in the sentences below? Ouch! You stepped on my toe! That hurt! (Wiktionary) Ouch! Her sunburn looks awful. (Wiktionary) Ouch. How could you say that? (Wiktionary) Ouch, I really wanted to do that. (Wiktionary) Ouch, one hundred thousand dollars for a car! I could never afford that! (Wiktionary)

• A: “Are you sure you can still do that at your age?” B: “Ouch! That wasn’t very subtle.” (Teclasap) Thanks in advance!

Packard

Senior Member

USA, English "Ouch" is a "dictionary word". A genuine part of our language. The rest all sound like "kiddie talk" and they may have made it into the dictionary but as adults we would not normally use those words unless we are mimicking a child.

bennymix

Senior Member

Now, Ontario, Canada. California; Princeton, NJ. English (American). I mostly agree with Packard, in respect to writing. But all of us have our own vocalizings, if we're suddenly in pain. So I might indeed say "youch" is someone steps on my toe. These renderings into letters are the sort of thing you see in comics; "YEEEOUCH". Nothing to do with mimicking a child, just an attempt at phonetic, alphabetized rendering. I'm pretty sure that Portuguese works in the same way: There is a standard form, analogous to 'ouch', but in practice, if you were to try to render exactly the sound your friend makes, you might deviate from the standard spelling.

fiercediva

Senior Member

New York, NY American English "Ow!" is also a dictionary word, an exclamation used to express the user's intense or sudden pain. If someone dropped a brick on my foot, I might shriek "OW!" involuntarily, and with no thought of mimicking a child. "Ouch" would more likely be used in other situations when the pain isn't literal, or the speaker is expressing empathy, as in "Ouch, her sunburn looks painful!" "Owie" is a child's variation of "Ow!", also used as a noun to mean "a wound." I've heard that the variations beginning with the letter "y" are combinations of "Yikes!" and "Ouch!/Ow!". I'll see if I can't find a supporting link. (cross-posted with bennymix)

DonnyB

Moderator Emeritus

Coventry, UK English UK Southern Standard English According to Oxford Dictionaries Online "ow" is a genuine dictionary word, too: [exclamation] used to express sudden pain. I disagree that the others are "kiddie talk": they're more in the nature alternative spellings of the exclamations both adults and children make when crying out in sudden pain. I don't think they're suitable alternatives for the "Ouch" in the Wiktionary examples, because they're not quite the same context (the pain there is mostly not physical). C

Carlos Eduardo

Senior Member

Portuguese - Brazil Thank you very much, you all, for having helped me! All your replies helped me a lot! You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

• English Only
• English Only

Back Top Bottom