How does Ouch! translate into other languages?

[BurtWorm]

When an Arab hits his or her finger with a hammer, what do they say? I think most of the world says something like "Ayyyyy!" How did English speakers turn this into "Fu--" or, more to the point, "OWWWWWWWWWW!"

PS: Props to NaMeaHou for inspiring this post.

[WindRavenX]

1. Japanese: "Itai"

"it hurts"
Ex: ha ga itai- the tooth hurts.
Beats me on the "ow" part. :shrug:

[BurtWorm]

3. That's even weirder than "Ouch!"

If you ask me.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. In practice,

"itai" as spoken by a person in pain turns into a string of "itai-tai-tai-tai..."

Similarly, a Japanese person at a public bath steps who steps into a tub that's too hot will exclaim "atch-atch-atch," which probably comes from "atsui" or "hot."

[BurtWorm]

19. The NPR piece White Rider cited below

mentions the usefulness of having sounds that can be rapidly repeated for people in pain.

[Art_from_Ark]

22. Of course, people in Osaka often say

"Mecha mecha ITAI gana!", which translates loosely to "That really smarts!"

And if you're REALLY in pain, you can say "Chi-ku-SHOOOOOOOOOOOW

‚¿‚­‚µ‚å�[�[�[�[�[�[�[�[�[�[�[‚¤�I

[Maple]

2. Dogs don't say

bow-wow either.

It's a convention.

[BurtWorm]

5. But bow-wow is not a reflexive interjection

like ouch is. Or is it?

[Maple]

8. Nope...just a linguistic

convention. No one actually says 'ouch' either, unless they have the cultural conditioning.

It's not a natural response.

[BurtWorm]

13. What do you say when you close your hand in a door?

[Throckmorton]

30. @#$%^%$@##, or roughly translated as,

Son of a Female Dog, that hurts.

[leftofthedial]

4. In Kelifownya-ese

it's pronounced "Autsch!"

[OldEurope]

27. "Autsch" is German. "Aua" , too

[TroubleMan]

6. In Chicago they yell out...

"GOAT!!"

[BurtWorm]

7. Geddoudaheah!

Is this some Cubs reference?

[whirlygigspin]

10. similarities

ayo! (chinese)

ayoye! (french/canada)

aye! (spanish)

aye papi! (PR)

oy (Leiberman) lol

[xJlM]

9. In Spanish you would say, "AAAIIIII!"

Pronounced the same as your Ayyyyy of course. Then again, you could say, "Hijo de puta!" or "Madre de Dios!" or numerous other expressions. Depends on how badly you wish to offend your friends and family.

[whirlygigspin]

12. PS

chinese dogs say "wang wang"

(I never understood "arf arf" either)

[TroubleMan]

14. in French, ducks supposedly say "Coin coin!!"

I never understood that one.

[BurtWorm]

17. It's pronounced kweh kweh

It's just quack quack without the final "ck."

[Paschall]

20. In the US roosters supposedly say "cock-a-doodle-do"

I never understood that one.

French roosters say, "cocorico!"

P.S. "Ouch" in French is "aïe!" Not to be confused with a virtual homonym "ail" (garlic).

[BigMcLargehuge]

15. the common Portuguese expression from New Bedford is...

"corisco" sounds like KOO DEESH!

Portuguese grandmothers slap you when you say it.

[Pale_Rider]

16. NPR's Ouch! Language of Pain ...

News story on the language of pain ... with an excellent audio recording of various spoken version of 'Ouch'

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1385022.html

Aug. 4, 2003

One of NPR's summer interns, Josh Kim, set out to answer this burning question: Why do people from different countries express pain differently? Most Americans might say "Ouch!" when they stub their toe or touch a hot stove. But other people in other countries say something else. Kim brings us this exploration of the curious similarities and idiosyncrasies of language.

[BurtWorm]

18. That was great!

Thanks!

[SOteric]

25. In Italian

Uh!

[Ellen Forradalom]

21. French

AÏE!

[Friar]

23. Oog!

Okefenokee Swamp---re: Pogo by Walt Kelly

[HEyHEY]

24. Quebecois French

Oye yoy..spelling is more than likey wrong

[Ignoramus]

26. In pig latin

wee wee wee wee

[trigz]

28. Norwegian: "AU!" or "ÆVV!" (or "AU! FAEN!" [ouch! Shit!]) (n/t)

[REP]

29. Wah! Iyo! In Mandarin

Wah! is kind of an all-purpose syllable of surprise. No idea what Iyo! means, but again, all-purpose surprise/pain.

[WillParkinson]

31. In Willasia...

It's OW FUDGEDARNIT!