Whoa! vs Woah!

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Poll Results

Option	Votes
Whoa!	41
Woah!	7

― Badgers (dog latin), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:27 (seven years ago)

both have their uses, 'whoa!' is for getting a horse to stop and 'woah!' is for keanu-style exclamations

― grim-n-gritty hooty reboot (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:29 (seven years ago)

One of these is actually just wrong and fuiud

― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:29 (seven years ago)

looks like dmac and i are gonna get into it itt

― grim-n-gritty hooty reboot (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:30 (seven years ago)

OK, as soon as it turns up we'll help yez in..

― Mark G, Friday, 19 January 2018 13:31 (seven years ago)

'Woah!' always reads to me like it should be followed by a 'Got You All In Check'.

― the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:52 (seven years ago)

Can we get a ruling on 'Wo!'?

― the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:53 (seven years ago)

Who TF says that?

― Badgers (dog latin), Friday, 19 January 2018 13:54 (seven years ago)

Me, that's wo.

― the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, 19 January 2018 14:01 (seven years ago)

That was a legit typo. But let's pretend that it was intentional.

― the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, 19 January 2018 14:02 (seven years ago)

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/20/2f/92/202f92f2eb121ea1eaef412fb1a76d2f.jpg

― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 19 January 2018 15:25 (seven years ago)

"whoa!"? huh? what is that good for?

― faust apes (NickB), Friday, 19 January 2018 15:31 (seven years ago)

Can we get a ruling on 'Wo!'?

It’s ‘Wo!!’ fyi

https://youtu.be/j2u5Gbadn7o

― breastcrawl, Friday, 19 January 2018 16:44 (seven years ago)

(last chance to vote, etc)

― breastcrawl, Friday, 19 January 2018 16:45 (seven years ago)

Woe!

― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:11 (seven years ago)

Whoa is correct
Woah is what Snowy says and only he may say it

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:15 (seven years ago)

obv one of u is about to find me saying 'woah' somewhere in the archives

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:20 (seven years ago)

actually knowing me it'll have about seventeen os. you'll never find it

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:20 (seven years ago)

unless you search for all values of o up until like idk forty

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:21 (seven years ago)

then we factor in multiple as or hs

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:21 (seven years ago)

up to 10 as, up to 5 hs. 40X10x5 = 2000 searches. not worth your time

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:22 (seven years ago)

'woah!' is for keanu-style exclamations

Keanu can go teach his granny to suck eggs. George Fox is da man.

When he was within a mile of Lichfield, he was commanded by God to remove his shoes. Leaving the footwear with some startled shepherds, he carried on into the City, where God once again spoke to him, telling him to “Cry woe unto the bloody City of Lichfield”.

― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 19 January 2018 18:25 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4gcQj_NZ30

― boxedjoy, Friday, 19 January 2018 18:30 (seven years ago)

Woah is what Snowy says and only he may say it

Snowy says Wooah!, gtfo you fake geek girl

― Haribo Hancock (sic), Friday, 19 January 2018 19:12 (seven years ago)

https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/120/MI0002120116.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

― ... (Eazy), Friday, 19 January 2018 19:14 (seven years ago)

there is only whoa and woe imo

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 19 January 2018 19:30 (seven years ago)

anguished quotes by existential philosophers etc etc

― #TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 19 January 2018 19:39 (seven years ago)

Whoa! to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea

― jmm, Friday, 19 January 2018 19:48 (seven years ago)

whoah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m69klb78cQ

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 19 January 2018 19:52 (seven years ago)

One of these is actually just wrong and fuiud

― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Friday, January 19, 2018 7:29 AM (three days ago)

otm

Duddest of the dud: not having the strength of conviction either way and retreating to "woa"

― WilliamC, Monday, 22 January 2018 16:36 (seven years ago)

https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/9246361.jpg

"Whoa."

― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Monday, 22 January 2018 16:42 (seven years ago)

Can we get a ruling on 'Wo!'?
― the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, January 19, 2018 1:53 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Who TF says that?
― Badgers (dog latin), Friday, January 19, 2018 1:54 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

British rappers apparently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd9gEMJ7-cM

― Badgers (dog latin), Monday, 22 January 2018 16:50 (seven years ago)

Righteous Brothers sang wo-o-wo-o-wo in their greatest hit.

― A is for (Aimless), Monday, 22 January 2018 17:35 (seven years ago)

i made a supercut of all the Bill & Ted woahs

― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 22 January 2018 17:40 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwNrOPFFNjU

― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 22 January 2018 17:41 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP0Sjhp0KLo

― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 22 January 2018 17:41 (seven years ago)

Every time I see this thread title I get ‘Ride On Time’ stuck in my head

― faust apes (NickB), Monday, 22 January 2018 17:54 (seven years ago)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61dyC%2B90fxL._SS500.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51bymMDTdGL.jpg

― mookieproof, Monday, 22 January 2018 17:58 (seven years ago)

^ a visitor from the 'spiritual hats' thread

― A is for (Aimless), Monday, 22 January 2018 18:18 (seven years ago)

great work adamvania

― Badgers (dog latin), Monday, 22 January 2018 23:06 (seven years ago)

didn't we do this a couple of years ago

― kinder, Monday, 22 January 2018 23:10 (seven years ago)

Noah

― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Monday, 22 January 2018 23:12 (seven years ago)

ATTN: Copyeditors and Grammar Fiends

― kinder, Monday, 22 January 2018 23:16 (seven years ago)

is this a January ritual dog latin? :)

― kinder, Monday, 22 January 2018 23:18 (seven years ago)

huh, i genuinely don't remember writing that.

― Badgers (dog latin), Tuesday, 23 January 2018 09:38 (seven years ago)

https://img.discogs.com/-L0uQ9iaerh1CMdrepBNqXOOUJU=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-2445721-1284474081.jpeg.jpg

― Tim, Tuesday, 23 January 2018 11:08 (seven years ago)

one month passes...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Friday, 23 February 2018 00:01 (seven years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Saturday, 24 February 2018 00:01 (seven years ago)

...britishes?

― sleepingbag, Saturday, 24 February 2018 00:26 (seven years ago)

Results otm and as stated fuiud

― Planck Blather (darraghmac), Saturday, 24 February 2018 00:46 (seven years ago)

bill ladson concurs

― mookieproof, Saturday, 24 February 2018 00:53 (seven years ago)

wau

― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Saturday, 24 February 2018 01:06 (seven years ago)

two years pass...

Definitely Woah. It flows the the best. The other way is clunky.

― “Big” Don Abernathy, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 04:40 (five years ago)

You're swimming against the floah.

― Respectfully Yours, (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 04:43 (five years ago)

this may be the final straw

― early-Woolf semantic prosody (Hadrian VIII), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 04:48 (five years ago)

I’m not trying to be disrespectful since I’m still relatively new here (and granted I haven’t read the thread yet) but my brother in law is in linguistics and he told me how this came up in a conference and they settled on “woah” so maybe let’s not be too proud of this cute poll thing here lol

― “Big” Don Abernathy, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 04:57 (five years ago)

being proud of cute polls is why this place exists

― early-Woolf semantic prosody (Hadrian VIII), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 05:00 (five years ago)

please note: linguists worthy of respect do not arrogate to themselves the power to decide such matters. they study what people say and write, amd accept them as the sole and final arbiters of correctness. if we ilxors conclude that 'whoa' is correct, then linguists cannot override us.

― Respectfully Yours, (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 05:01 (five years ago)

Okay that’s fine. I should just let people have their fun with this stuff. Ultimately some things just aren’t about what the truth is. Hey mods please feel free to delete my posts in this thread!

― “Big” Don Abernathy, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 05:02 (five years ago)

And other threads

― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 05:51 (five years ago)

No!!

― “Big” Don Abernathy, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 06:03 (five years ago)

you're new here? feels like you've been around a long time. like an old friend, or a favorite pair of socks.

― superdeep borehole (harbl), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 12:54 (five years ago)

I've never said either out loud tbh, but "Woah!" in the company of human beings seems appropriate, but I think you would say "Whoa!" to a horse, the -hw sounds seems to make more sense in the latter case. I would probably write "Woah!" because "Whoa!" looks a bit odd.

― Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 13:07 (five years ago)

Hwoa, surely?

― Wet Pretzels and Other Soggy Snacks (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 13:43 (five years ago)

Wo - it's one syllable, two less letters. save us all time plz this planet hasn't got long

― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 13:51 (five years ago)

Hwoa only if you are about to tell us about the spear-Danes

― american primitive stylophone (zchyrs), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 13:54 (five years ago)

Hwoa, surely?

I come from a place where /hw/ hasn't completely died out.

― Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 14:09 (five years ago)

Everyone is probably too busy to do it but I get a sense from the recent posts that if this poll were run and voted on again that “woah!” would run away with it.

― “Big” Don Abernathy, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:07 (five years ago)

"whoa", and the back-up when it needs to use the restroom is "wo"

"woah" is back in toledo washing dishes

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:09 (five years ago)

but yes, i am way too busy to use ilx right now lol

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:10 (five years ago)

I maintain, as upthread, that 'woah' =

https://j.gifs.com/m26OYx.gif

― Wet Pretzels and Other Soggy Snacks (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:17 (five years ago)

i just want to add that i am definitely NOT too busy to use ilx right now, i was just being sarcastic. these are the issues that matter

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:18 (five years ago)

https://i.imgur.com/ykXXqFu.png

case closed

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:19 (five years ago)

I think you would say "Whoa!" to a horse

When spoken in human company, "whoa" (as I've heard it used) expresses surprise, but it also carries with it the implication of "slow down and give me a moment to absorb that".

― Respectfully Yours, (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:21 (five years ago)

it also carries with it the implication of "slow down and give me a moment to absorb that".

sometimes it does. but it can also mean "no no, stop that!", whether to a horse or to another person. i'm thinking back to various times in my life when i have witnessed something horrible that should immediately stop. it's tough to recall particulars, but i remember shouting variants of "whoa whoa whoa no! no!"

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:23 (five years ago)

Big Don Afterthought going full Sidney Powell

― early-Woolf semantic prosody (Hadrian VIII), Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:23 (five years ago)

"whoa" may be a more generalized word for me, though - almost more like a sound or a feeling, sometimes. whoa flies out of my mouth left and right, in many contexts

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 December 2020 17:24 (five years ago)

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