tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post2691467553577394544..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: whoa and woahlynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-85803127944453782652023-01-22T22:44:07.729+00:002023-01-22T22:44:07.729+00:00Thank you for cool hwip!Thank you for cool hwip!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-32972946181067260772022-06-09T12:19:46.640+01:002022-06-09T12:19:46.640+01:00As a native Brit (although admittedly also a forme...As a native Brit (although admittedly also a former US resident), I would always go for 'whoa'. Spelling is especially useful when something is impressive and/or surprising; The first 'wh' can be lengthened for a few seconds (preferably with swollen cheeks and frowning brow) for effect not possible.Ishine Ukhttps://bit.ly/3BckL2Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-40697923249146337832022-03-07T15:15:54.288+00:002022-03-07T15:15:54.288+00:00Very relevant just now... (March 2022).Very relevant just now... (March 2022).Petra1945https://www.blogger.com/profile/06559677258676647710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-12650743352356125442020-08-11T19:38:20.327+01:002020-08-11T19:38:20.327+01:00BrE (Scot, 60+) I’ve never had to stop a horse, bu...BrE (Scot, 60+) I’ve never had to stop a horse, but I’m with Mollymooly and others. To me, the sound is not hwoe, it is woe, and I don’t mentally hear an ah sound tacked on to the end. Given the choice, I might write it something like Wohohoh, to indicate an extended duration of the vowel. Then, I suppose, someone would say that that sounds lik woe-oh-oh, like a Beatles song. It’s difficult.<br /><br />I’ve never actually seen woah outside this thread. For an exclamation of surprise, I would expect something more like whaaat?<br /><br />At school, we had to recite the poetry of Robert Burns. To me, the spelling of some of the dialect words bore no relationship to how I would pronounce them, unless pronounciation has changed radically in approximately 250 years. For example, there is the well known vowel shift that oo in English cecomes I in Scots, so foot becomes fit, boot becomes bit and good becomes gid (rhymes with rid). In Burns books, good is invariably spelled guid, and I’ve never been sure how that is meant to sound. If you don’t use phonetic alphabets, writing down how people say things, words or sounds like whoa, is difficult, and will never please everybody.Shy-replyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891566073375322808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-50044084257512826122020-04-03T11:39:39.964+01:002020-04-03T11:39:39.964+01:00'Woah' is what Snowy/Milou, in the origina...'Woah' is what Snowy/Milou, in the original French of the Tintin books, barks. James Helgesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09848588002606047668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-120823660463806912020-03-03T18:58:46.874+00:002020-03-03T18:58:46.874+00:00I am British but have been living in the US for 25...I am British but have been living in the US for 25 years. I had never seen the woah spelling until relatively recently (within the past few years), and then only on social media. For me it has always been whoa, and I've always associated it with a call to a horse one is riding to stop (even though I have never ridden a horse in my life).pbittonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01789641849398706872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25329412219176506042020-03-02T14:32:04.544+00:002020-03-02T14:32:04.544+00:00The name and spelling Kiev (key-ev) came to Englis...The name and spelling Kiev (key-ev) came to English through Russian because the Russian language dominated discussion of that area at the relevant time, ie when we adopted the spelling. The other spelling "Kyiv", not *"Kiyv" comes directly from Ukrainian since speakers of that language have come to dominate discussion of the area, and, probably correctly, have asked that the international community respect that their capital should be transliterated from the native language, not from the language of what many see as a foreign occupier. I think most English speakers still pronounce it "key-ev" even when spelling it a la Ukrainian, however that "y i"s pronounced as a sort of backened "ee" and the "i" is sort of a "yi" in that context, leaving something that in English I can only spell roughly phonetically as "kuyif" with a very very very weak "u" being that there's no "u" at all. It's just the best way I can think to approximate the "y" from Ukrainian using English phonetics.<br /><br />Note: this entire comment is roughly speaking and from my very poor memory. Corrections welcomed. Lee Watershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12935019917607470466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-49146991108707929202020-03-02T14:24:39.911+00:002020-03-02T14:24:39.911+00:00For what it's worth, I always spell it "w...For what it's worth, I always spell it "whoah" and assumed everyone else concurred. "Whoa" seems acceptable, but lacking in finesse, like using straight quote marks instead of the properly curled ones. "Woah" seems like it was written by someone who not only can't spell but doesn't particularly want to.<br /><br />:) Lee Watershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12935019917607470466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-58806713463882216082020-01-17T01:54:22.944+00:002020-01-17T01:54:22.944+00:00Cool hwip?Cool hwip?Hexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17550040894418138955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-387649107320423592019-11-27T22:58:03.736+00:002019-11-27T22:58:03.736+00:00Surely Kiev is the English form of the city's ...Surely Kiev is the English form of the city's name, like Vienna and Moscow and the Danube, and Kiyv is the local (and arguably more authentic) name, like Wien and Moscva and the Donau?Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3745790742085626762019-11-27T14:54:44.044+00:002019-11-27T14:54:44.044+00:00I'm very late to this party, but while reading...I'm very late to this party, but while reading the post and some of the comments I realized there is a similar (though quite unrelated) issue going on right now concerning the capital of Ukraine. Is it the two-syllable name I grew up with, Kiev (pronounced kee-ev) or the single syllable Kiyv (pronounced keev)? Our president seems inadvertently to have hastened the switch.Dick Hartzellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07065924271517452841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-8219385170797385652018-09-18T14:44:27.187+01:002018-09-18T14:44:27.187+01:00I wish I could hear all of you read your posts out...I wish I could hear all of you read your posts out loud because I'm wondering how you pronounce those words. For my entire life, I've said and heard two separate but similar words, one of which I didn't know how to spell. I've even had discussions with multiple groups of people about how to differentiate the two words. <br /><br />One is "whoa" (or at least how I spell it), and it rhymes with Noah. That means stop or slow down (especially for horses) when you're talking more slowly or emphasizing it. The other is "woe" which rhymes with "grow." I never knew how to spell it, but I didn't usually write it down anyway. That can also mean slow down (but not stop), but is usually said in a sequence, like "woe, woe, woe." It can also be a single exclamation of amazement (like from surfers). <br /><br />But tonight my two roommates told me that they had never heard of whoa rhyming with Noah and that it wasn't a word. But I have definitely heard it pronounced that way by many people in my life. Maybe it's regional? I'm also from Colorado, for the record. So I'd be interested to know if there is anyone else here who also differentiates the pronunciation of those. From your posts, there were a few that seemed to, but I'm not sure. <br /><br />After reading this post and a few others, it seems to make sense to pronounce "woah" to rhyme with "Noah" and "whoa" to rhyme with "snow." Maybe I will adopt that. <br />Lolaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03378356771674173373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-78949376841626259552018-05-22T19:33:37.198+01:002018-05-22T19:33:37.198+01:00I've always thought "whoa" was what ...I've always thought "whoa" was what you said to mean stop or wait, and it's often associated with horses in my mind. <br />"Woah" on the other hand is used for amazement or surprise, and I associate it with surfers. <br />I guess this isn't as widespread an understanding of those spellings as I had thought, but it feels so intuitive to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-60215546653533425132018-02-27T22:43:37.697+00:002018-02-27T22:43:37.697+00:00I was reading a French magazine and the title used...I was reading a French magazine and the title used Wō (with macron) and I realized in the story that it was meant to be whoa. No aspiration of the "wh" I assume.tarhoosierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10203562404036647187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-35928056388128607742017-02-01T16:34:55.782+00:002017-02-01T16:34:55.782+00:00I believe it started because whoever programmed th...I believe it started because whoever programmed the most widely use spellcheck databases did not flag it as a misspelling. I'm American and the correct spelling has always been whoa until the widespread use of email, smartphones etc.Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15901576670193811508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-38543436694727110032016-05-26T02:13:11.134+01:002016-05-26T02:13:11.134+01:00Came to this topic somewhat late. Had noticed, tho...Came to this topic somewhat late. Had noticed, though fairly recently, that there were people, mostly much younger than I, who spelled it woah, but as they were related to me and I didn't wish to be unkind, refrained from correcting their spelling, thinking that, as with pharaoh, for instance, the correct spelling wasn't highly intuitive. I stand corrected - sort of.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-16091627307280735562015-12-03T09:13:43.159+00:002015-12-03T09:13:43.159+00:00I know this thread originated years ago, but the s...I know this thread originated years ago, but the subject is still alive and well...lol. I just used ngram viewer to do a book search of woah and whoa. I searched British English only from the year 1800 through 2000. Whoa was well ahead while woah hardly registered. Interesting. I always spelled it woah but after seeing the ngram viewer results and reading a little online about the subject, I think I shall switch to whoa. Great discussion.Acoustics4mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990521422891029331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25021868695735327692015-03-05T00:05:57.712+00:002015-03-05T00:05:57.712+00:00It would be interesting to see what the difference...It would be interesting to see what the differences are within the UK. I only began to notice 'woah' amongst my contemporaries when I moved south for university.<br /><br />In Scotland, of course, we do pronounce 'wh' as 'hw', so I'd obviously always spelt the word 'whoa', because it begins with, in my speech, a totally different sound from 'woe'. Same goes for the witch/which, whales/Wales, what/watt, and were/wear/where word groups.Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-62140611217653563852013-08-30T09:30:18.590+01:002013-08-30T09:30:18.590+01:00It is the same interjection ("whoa") whe...It is the same interjection ("whoa") whether expressing surprise or commanding a horse to slow (the meaning is not much different. You're still expressing surprise if you're on an out-of-control horse). Same word, just used in slightly different contexts. Same as how "aw" can be used in different ways: aw, shucks. Aw, cute. Aw, sad. Aw, do I really have to go to bed? I can buy adding extra w's for emphasis in informal online prose (awwwww, cute little baby!) but I draw the line at "awe," which is akin to amazement, and is not an interjection. "Awe, cute"? You can miss me with that one--and with "woah," which is not a word.Libellulehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18386703774876981726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-32743167701388103122013-06-08T17:32:39.570+01:002013-06-08T17:32:39.570+01:00I don't find the disyllabic American pronuncia...I don't find the disyllabic American pronunciation of <i>Noah</i> to be significant . The same is true of British pronunciation — and of H-less <i>boa, stoa</i> etc.<br /><br />Could it be that there's something totally specific to the word <i>whoa</i> that makes the spelling difficult to learn and unattractive to recognise? My hunch is that many are put out by the <i>wh</i> spelling of a short word which isn't a member of the set of grammar words — interrogatives, relatives, conjunctions. As writers, they may be aware that there's conventionally an H in the word, but feel reluctant to use <i>wh</i> for a word where it doesn't feel as if it belongs. As readers, they may register it as less of an anomaly, and so something to be copied.<br /><br />Unlike other short words such as <i>whit, whet, whale</i> there's a spelling representing an open vowel. It doesn't look so wrong if somebody has put the H somewhere else. <i>With</i> is a different word, and<i>weth</i> <i><b>could</b></i> be a word. Both would suggest an unwanted change of consonant, and <i>waleh</i> would suggest an extra unwanted vowel. <i>Whey</i> does have letters representing an open vowel, but there's nowhere we could move the H to without it appearing even worse: <i>wehy, weyh</i>.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-37018664038011212662013-06-06T17:23:00.465+01:002013-06-06T17:23:00.465+01:00What about “whoah”? I think that way is probably ...What about “whoah”? I think that way is probably coming to me from seeing it spelled both ways, not paying attention to it, so a combination of both ways seems like it. Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-80124992963179005252011-04-16T16:09:24.422+01:002011-04-16T16:09:24.422+01:00The whole "woah" thing mildly infuriates...The whole "woah" thing mildly infuriates me. No one under 21 spells it "whoa" anymore and I'm beginning to think that spelling might become a cyclical thing because of the Internet. <br /><br />In a few years people will bring back "gud" and "appel" and "aks" and no one will call them out on it.<br /><br />Even when I correct people on it they say that they won't change because they like their way better.<br /><br />Of course I can't do anything about it. They're right. Well not that it's better but that it is indeed correct. Though they don't care that it's correct they never intended on changing anyway.<br /><br />I think that's the part that makes me upset. Because these same folks will start up some big stuff for anyone who says "you're" instead of "your" or what have you. And seeing as they didn't even know that their usage of a spelling of a word was technically correct I don't get how they can get off lecturing other folks about a common mistake.<br /><br />There's also this whole thing where people put the dollar sign behind the amount. It's a new thing. It technically makes sense but it's completely wrong. <br /><br />Oh well. I guess I better just roll with it. There's nothing I can do.<br /><br /><i>Woe</i> is me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-11122603588994151802011-02-23T10:16:07.798+00:002011-02-23T10:16:07.798+00:00As a youngish antipodean, I would have said 'w...As a youngish antipodean, I would have said 'whoa' was the spelling used by illiterates/americans.<br /><br />To me:<br />Woah - Keanu Reeves type astonishment, pronounced slowly<br />Whoa - Rappers appreciating a woman, said quicklyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-47082150690177383662010-11-22T18:07:07.876+00:002010-11-22T18:07:07.876+00:00I'm a young person and American (though I do t...I'm a young person and American (though I do talk with some British people on the internet, and have thus adopted some of their slang), and I have never felt comfortable with the "whoa" spelling (it just looks "odd" to me, like "cocoa" or something).<br /><br />Thus, I use "woah," but though my usage will often be intended to be pronounced as one-syllable ("whoh"), I usually read that spelling written by anyone else as "wo-ah."<br /><br />It's not exactly a logical method, but I don't think I'd ever be able to switch over to "whoa." It just looks too awkward.erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11987574782351297558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-8463930210658923202010-10-29T06:03:58.232+01:002010-10-29T06:03:58.232+01:00Anonymous, did you read this post?Anonymous, did you read this post?lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.com