Oy vey
Oy vey! is an exclamation of dismay or exasperation meaning "woe is me," or "oh no." This exclamation was borrowed from
Yiddish (אױ װײ). A related exclamation is "vey iz mir" (װײ'ז מיר) - woe is me.
Although there is a
Hebrew noun "אױ" meaning "woe," the Yiddish expression (like much of Yiddish) has its roots in
Middle High German - in this case the word ouwê, from which also comes the
Modern German exclamation "o weh/au weh," meaning "ouch."
Oy vey is a favorite expression of radio personality
Howard Stern.
*It is rumored that "Oy vey" was
Albert Einstein's first reaction to the detonation of the
atomic bomb over
Hiroshima.
*In
New York City, it is used on a sign on the
Williamsburg Bridge which reads "Leaving
Brooklyn: Oy vey!".
*The phrase is used punningly in the lyrics of the song "The Thrill of it All" from the
1974 album
Country Life by the band
Roxy Music: the inner sleeve reads "something's got to give oy weh" (note spelling!).
*In
1992, the band
Tin Machine released a live album entitled
Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby, perhaps a pun on U2's "Achtung, Baby".
*It is heard in the chorus of "Pretty Fly (For a Rabbi)" by
Weird Al Yankovic.
*In the
2005 movie
Madagascar, Gloria the hippopotamus says "Oy vey" when she and the other animals find themselves on the island of
Madagascar.
*
Yiddish*
Jewish languages*
List of English words of Yiddish origin
