oy.

interj.  a Yiddish expression of vexation, exasperation; “what now?”.

<“What’s ‘oy’?”  He smiled.  “God, you’re goyische.  It’s Jewish for ‘Jesus Fucking Christ, that was mortifying.’”  —Ann Packer, The Diver From Clausen’s Pier: A Novel.>

interj.  an expression of annoyance, frustration, or dismay, as at relatives who repeat the same stories over and over in The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage by Cathi Hanauer.


interj.  an expression of disbelief.

<It used to be, if we gals wanted to look like a model, all we had to do was be born with extraordinary genes, grow to five-foot ten, subsist on lettuce, and maybe develop a coke habit.  Now, it seems, we’ve also got to have our looks “enhanced” by an underpaid production assistant with a fifty-thousand-gigabyte hard drive.  As my grandmother used to say: Oy.  —Susan Jane Gilman, Kiss My Tiara: How to Rule the World as a SmartMouth Goddess.>

interj.  an expression of grief.

<Mama cried, Oy, no, it can’t be.  —David Grossman, See Under: Love.>

interj.  an expression of pain.

<When Jack’s boot impacted on his shin he opened his eyes and shouted, “Oy!”  —Neal Stephenson, The Confusion.>

interj.  an expression of regret.

<Oy, such a waste of good money and paper.  —F. Paul Wilson, Crisscross: A Repairman Jack Novel.>

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