''Oy vey'' ( yi, אױ װײ) is a
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
phrase expressing dismay or exasperation. Also spelled ''oy vay, oy veh'', or ''oi vey'', and often abbreviated to ''oy'', the expression may be translated as "oh, woe!" or "woe is me!" Its
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
equivalent is ''oy vavoy'' (, ).
[
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Derivation
According to etymologist Douglas Harper, the phrase is derived from Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
and is of Germanic origin. It is cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
with the German expression ''o weh'', or ''auweh'', combining the German and Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
exclamation ''au!'' meaning "ouch/oh" and the German word ''weh'', a cognate of the English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
word ''woe'' (as well as the Dutch ''wee'' meaning pain). The expression is also related to ''oh ve'', an older expression in Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
and Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, and ''oy wah'', an expression used with a similar meaning in the Montbéliard
Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two Subprefectures in F ...
region in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The Latin equivalent is ''heu, vae!''; a more standard expression would be ''o, me miserum,'' or ''heu, me miserum.''
According to Chabad.org
Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites and the first and largest virtual congregation.
History
In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating ...
, an alternative theory for the origin of the Yiddish expression is that "oy" stems from Biblical Hebrew, and that "vey" is its Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
equivalent.Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
Targum Jonathan is a western targum (interpretation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it w ...
on that verse, but two versions were never combined classically.
Significance
The expression is often abbreviated to simply ''oy'', or elongated to ''oy vey iz mir'' ("Oh, woe is me").[Stevens, Payson et al. ''Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish'', p. 34 (Simon and Schuster 2002).] The fuller lament is sometimes found as the more Germanic ''oy vey ist mir''. The main purpose or effect of elongating it is often dramatic, something like a "cosmic ouch".visual anthropologist
Visual anthropology is a subfield of social anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media. More recently it has been used by historians of science a ...
Penny Wolin
Penny Wolin (born June 5, 1953), also known as Penny Diane Wolin and Penny Wolin-Semple, is an American portrait photographer and a visual anthropologist. She has exhibited solo at the Smithsonian Institution and is the recipient of two grants fr ...
.[Wolin, Penny. ''The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora'', p. 196 (Crazy Woman Creek Press 2000).] Its meaning is approximately opposite that of mazel tov
"Mazel tov" or "mazal tov" (Hebrew/Yiddish: , Hebrew: ''mazál tov''; Yiddish: ''mázl tov''; lit. "good fortune") is a Jewish phrase used to express congratulations for a happy and significant occasion or event.
Etymology and pronunciation ...
.
See also
*List of English words of Yiddish origin
This is a list of words that have entered the English language from the Yiddish language, many of them by way of American English. There are differing approaches to the romanization of Yiddish orthography (which uses the Hebrew alphabet); thus ...
*Oi (interjection)
''Oi'' is an interjection used in various varieties of the English language, particularly Australian English, British English, Irish English, New Zealand English, and South African English, as well as non-English languages such as Chinese, Hi ...
, a similar-sounding British English exclamation, said to also have older European origins
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oy Vey
Yiddish words and phrases