Some dictionaries define whoa as Stop! while some define it as an expression of surprise/astonishment. Is there such a word as whoa, where did it originate from and what is its actual meaning?
Often, wow is positive and whoa is negative. Wow is a reaction to a big surprise (I am impressed), and whoa means please stop (which maybe due to my surprise.) However, with irony, I can say "Wow, you made a big mistake," or "You are going to wow them with your bright tie, but is that really the best choice for a job interview?"
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The OED lists woah as a variant of woa which is a variant of whoa... I don't remember ever seeing the woah spelling (I'd want to pronounce it as two syllables: wo-ah, like Noah) before moving to England [as an American], but it's a very popular spelling here. Searching just UK sites, one gets ~170,000 hits for woah and ~255,000 for whoa.
I'm having a bad day. I have been followed by a velociraptor the entire day. Woah, dude! How many mirrors did you break/ladders did you walk under on your way to work? For black cats, because it is a bit clumsy somehow to say 'Did a black cat cross your path?' many Brits might make a joke of it with 'How many black cats did you kick on your way ...
The word I'm seeking is a word used to describe the feeling you get when confronted with the immensity of nature and how little we are. It's what you get when you stand on the beach, watching the o...
John's awesomesauce weekend in Vegas ended prematurely. And he prayed with such authority that my prayers felt like weak sauce by comparison. How did the words awesomesauce and weak sauce originat...
After checking the dictionary, I noticed that the usage of "Kindly" in request sentences often expresses a sence of ironic. So I am afraid that my expression might lead to misunderstanding.
"You're a fine one to talk" usually means that the person addressed is guilty of the same fault that they have been criticising in others. To remove the sarcasm, you would have to say something like "You know all about that - tell us what you think".
