Wiktionary

oh

See also: Appendix:Variations of "oh"

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English o.

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. Expression of surprise.
    Oh! I didn't see you there.
  2. Expression of wonder, amazement, or awe.
    Oh, wow! That's amazing.
  3. Expression of understanding, affirmation, recognition, or realization.
    Oh, so that's how it works.
  4. A word to precede an offhand or annoyed remark.
    Oh, leave me alone.
  5. A word to precede an added comment or afterthought.
    Oh, and don't forget your coat.
  6. An invocation or address (similar to the vocative in languages with noun declension), often with a term of endearment.
    Oh, gosh
    • 1998, Max Martin, ...Baby One More Time (song performed by Britney Spears)
      Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know / That something wasn't right here?
  7. Exclamation for drama or emphasis (often poetic).
    Oh, when will it end?
    • 1703, Lawrence Smith, The Evidence of Things Not Seen (page 143)
      And oh how stingingly acute, and pungently grievous and tormentive, are the remembrancing Reflections of a separate uncloathed Soul in the other World, upon a review of its mad Choice, foolish Hopes, fruitless Desires […]
    • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
      Oh, by what plots, by what forswearings, betrayings, oppressions, imprisonments, tortures, poisonings, and under what reasons of state and politic subtilty, have these forenamed kings […] pulled the vengeance of God upon themselves […]
  8. Expression of pain. See ouch.
    Oh! That hurt.
    • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
      "Oh! . . . oh! . . . I can't bear it . . . It is too much . . . I die . . . I am going . . ." were Polly's expressions of extasy
  9. Space filler or extra syllable, especially in (popular) music.
    • 1968, MacKinlay Kantor, Beauty Beast:
      I'm off with the raggle-taggle gypsy-oh.
  10. (interrogative) Expression of mild scepticism.
    "You should watch where you're going!" "Oh?"
  11. A word to mark a spoken phrase as imaginary.
    What if he says "Oh, I need to see your ID"?
Alternative formsEdit

Particularly in the context of Internet conversations, "oh" is sometimes written with additional Os or Hs - for example, ohhh. See also ooh.

Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

oh (plural ohs)

  1. An utterance of oh; a spoken expression of surprise, acknowledgement, etc.
    • 2011, Seabert Parsons, The Lost Codex of Palenque, page 240
      There were ohs and ahs, and the people twisted about as they looked for her. Then they began to applaud.

VerbEdit

oh (third-person singular simple present ohs, present participle ohing, simple past and past participle ohed)

  1. (intransitive) To utter the interjection oh; to express surprise, etc.
    • 1852, Merry's museum and Parley's magazine (volumes 23-24, page 46)
      A quarter of an hour elapsed, and then, after several rings at the door-bell, a smothered laugh, and a good deal of ohing and ahing, the door was thrown open, and one by one, as they were announced, in came the expected characters.

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle English o, oo, from Old English ō, from Latin ō.

NounEdit

oh (plural ohs)

  1. the letter O, o (more commonly spelled o)
    • 2006, Ben Bova, Titan, p. 33
      One genuine recycled local glass of aitch-two-oh
    • 2011, Shallon Lester
      Exes and Ohs: A Downtown Girl's (Mostly Awkward) Tales of Love, Lust, Revenge, and a Little Facebook Stalking
Alternative formsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

From o (“zero”).

NounEdit

oh (plural ohs)

  1. the digit 0 (especially in representations of speech)
    My telephone number is four-double-three-two-oh-nine.
TranslationsEdit

AnagramsEdit

BahnarEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Bahnaric *ʔɔh.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

oh

  1. younger sibling

DutchEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. oh

FinnishEdit

NounEdit

oh

  1. (housing) Abbreviation of olohuone (“living room”).

FrenchEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. oh

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

GalicianEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. oh (expression of surprise, etc.)
    Synonym: ó

ReferencesEdit

  • “oh” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • “oh” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • “oh” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. oh

HungarianEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. oh!

IngrianEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. Expression of surprise: oh!

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 359

Min NanEdit

For pronunciation and definitions of oh – see 僫 (“evil; wicked; foul; fierce; hostile; ferocious; etc.”).
(This character, oh, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 僫.)

PohnpeianEdit

ConjunctionEdit

oh

  1. and

PortugueseEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. Alternative form of ó

RomanianEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. Alternative form of of

SpanishEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

oh

  1. oh (expression of awe, surprise, pain or realization)

Related termsEdit

Further readingEdit

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