Oy vey
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Oy vey (Yiddish: אױ װײ), or just oy,[1] is an exclamation of dismay or exasperation [1] meaning "oh woe." Its sound is very similar to Ach weh, and Au weh (with which it is a cognate), a common expression used in Bavaria and Austria in similar situations, combining the German exclamation Au! meaning "Ouch/Oh" and the German word Weh meaning pain, or Oy Wah, an expression used with a similar meaning in the Montbéliard region in France. It is however also theorized that the first part of it (oy) is originally from Biblical Hebrew, with cognates in other Semitic languages.[citation needed] Vey and the similar contemporary German Weh are derived from Middle High German, and are cognate with the English "woe."
In the JPS Hebrew-English translation (pg 667) 2nd samuel 12.14 states oy vey (translated: my enemies) the phrase is intended to avoid saying "spurned the lord", instead it says "spurned the enemies of the lord". cf. note d-d at 1st samuel 25.22
The term in its present form is borrowed from Yiddish,[2] Au Gewalt (Yiddish: אױ גװאַלד oy gvald) – which can have a similar meaning, or also express shock or amazement. Gevald! is often just used by itself to express this feeling.
It is also similar in meaning and pronunciation to the Bulgarian term "uvi" and the Russian term "uvy" (Bul, уви - alas; Rus, увы — alas), which is used to express grief or sorrow.
Also similar to Persian phrase "Ey Vaay" which is used in same stances as its Yiddish counterpart, i.e. sadness or disbelief.
It is also similar to the South Indian term in Kannada and Tamil, "Ai Yo" or "Ayyo" i.e. sadness or disbelief.
But perhaps the most similar, and possibly the origins of this term, is from the Eastern European culture (Lithuanian, Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian) word oi, which essentially means "oops"
[edit] Popular culture
- In New York City, there is a sign on the Williamsburg Bridge which reads "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy vey!", due to the borough's large Jewish population.[3]
- In 1992, the band Tin Machine released a live album titled Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby, a joke on U2's Achtung, Baby.[4][5]
- In the comedic musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand, the song "You Are Woman, I Am Man" features the saying, when Streisand's character exclaims: "Oy Vey! What a feeling!"
- The 2007 television series The Big Bang Theory has Howard Wolowitz, played by Simon Helberg, uttering "Oy vey" in exasperation, due to Howard being Jewish and therefore able to speak Yiddish.
- In The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown," Krusty's father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, cries out "Oy vey iz mir!" when his son's identity is revealed at a comedy club.[6]
- Weird Al Yankovic's song "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi" on his album Running With Scissors frequently uses the phrase.[7]
- There is a Jewish parody of James Bond who is called "Oy Oy Seven".[8][9]
- In Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish, he says that a woman in labor who is crying "Oy!" is not yet ready for the doctor. Once she yells "Gevalt!" then it's time.[10]
- In Madagascar, Gloria the hippo mutters it during a conversation with King Julien of the Lemurs, which results in the lemur croud shouting it back and applauding it.[11]
- The phrase Oy vey is used in the Monty Python song "Oliver Cromwell".
- In the US version of The Office, in the episode "Valentine's Day," for the final scene, character Michael Scott, who is noted for making unfunny jokes that he thinks are quite funny (but are often just politically incorrect) stands outside Minskoff Theatre in New York City, (playing Fiddler on the Roof), and says "Oy vey" and then after a long comedic pause concludes with "schmear", mistakeningly meaning to say "oy vey iz mir".[12]
- "Oy gevalt" is the second to last line in the Perry Mason TV Series episode 1-19, "The Case of the Haunted Husband," originally aired January 25, 1958.[13] At the end of the case after the killer has been exposed, Lieutenant Tragg is gloating that Perry Mason must have discovered who did it by being lucky. Perry Mason asks Tragg if he thinks Mason is stupid for leaving a clue that Tragg found. Tragg says, "Well who else could have done it? There was only you, me, and (name of killer)...." When he realizes what he just said, Tragg moans, "Oy gevalt." The elevator door opens and Mason says, "After you Lieutenant."
- In the popular British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! Season 1, Episode 3, Private Helga Geerhart exclaims "Oy vey" to express her surprise when she hears that Colonel Von Strohm and Captain Hans Gehring are having their army uniforms made in London by Jewish tailors Solomon & Klein, the Colonel and the Captain look at her in surprise to which she sheepishly replies "Whatever that means".
- In the comic strip Oy, the main protagonist is named "Oy" due to his sometimes frustrating behavior.[14]
- The book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein about the Jewish roots of comic book superheroes is titled Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero, a pun on Superman's flying catchphrase "Up up and away"
- Oy (album) is the third studio album by the Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Oy Definition - Random House Unabridged Dictionary and Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English
- ^ CNN[dead link] - CNN - January 19, 2004
- ^ New York Times - NYT - "JIM RUTENBERG", February 25, 2006, "In September, a new sign went up on the Williamsburg Bridge, and it won national notice as another example of New York City's singularly abrasive charm: Leaving Brooklyn, Oy Vey! The sign, the brainchild of the Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz, gained attention in newspapers as far away as Pittsburgh and Kansas City."
- ^ Boston Globe - Boston Globe April 10, 1992
- ^ Amazon - Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby by David Bowie
- ^ The Simpsons, "Like Father, Like Clown" Transcript
- ^ CNN - CNN - "Weird Al: Living up to his name": July 12, 1999
- ^ NYT New York Times Book Review - September 3, 1965 - "by Sol Weinstein, called 'Loxfinger,' which introduces Israel Bond, the Hebrew Secret Agent whose number is 'Oy Oy seven.'" (Image citation via ProQuest: Books -- Authors. (1965, September 3). New York Times (1923-Current file),25. Retrieved October 11, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007). (Document ID: 101566849).)
- ^ Independent (Newspaper) - October 17, 1968, Long Beach, California - "....Wherein Israel Bond, Agent Oy Oy Seven, pulls off his final caper for the Israel M33 and 1-3 Bureau..."
- ^ ROSTEN OBIT National Public Radio - NPR - February 20, 1997 (subscription required)
- ^ Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh Post Gazette/The Wall Street Journal - by Michael M. Phillips - May 6, 2005
- ^ Office Quotes
- ^ As of March 2008 available online at Veoh.com
- ^ http://www.oycomics.com
