different between whoa vs woe

English

Alternative forms

• woah
• whoah

Etymology

Whoa (c. 1843) is a variant of woa (c. 1840), itself a variant of wo (c. 1787), from who (c. 1450), ultimately from Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare German ho, Old French ho ! (“hold!, halt!”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /w??/, /???/
• (US) enPR: w?, hw?, IPA^(key): /wo?/, /?o?/
• Rhymes: -??
• Homophone: woe (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Interjection

whoa

1. Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down.

   Whoa, Nelly!
2. An expression of surprise.

   Whoa, are you serious?

3. Used as a meaningless filler in song lyrics.
   • 2003, "Weird Al" Yankovic, eBay (song)

     I am the type who is liable to snipe you
     With two seconds left to go, whoa.

   • 2010, Bruce Springsteen, It's a Shame

     And oh whoa girl, it's a shame.
     Oh whoa girl, it's a doggone shame.

Usage notes

An alternative spelling, woah (c. 1856), is common, but it is considered an error by some.

Antonyms

• (stop, said to a horse): giddyup, giddap

Derived terms

• whoa back

Translations

Verb

whoa (third-person singular simple present whoas, present participle whoaing, simple past and past participle whoaed)

1. (transitive) To attempt to slow (an animal) by crying "whoa".
   • 1926, Josephine Demott Robinson, The Circus Lady (page 38)

     He was whoaing the horses loudly, and they did seem to be going faster than usual—in fact, they were galloping.

References

• Whoa! Woah?! Whoah. How an old exclamation became the Internet’s most variously spelled word., Matthew J.X. Malady, Slate

Anagrams

• woah

English

Etymology

From Middle English wo, wei, wa, from Old English w?, w?, from Proto-Germanic *wai (interjection), whence also Dutch wee, German Weh, weh, Danish ve, Yiddish ????? (vey). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (interjection). Compare Latin vae, Albanian vaj, French ouais, Ancient Greek ???? (ouaí), Persian ???? (vây) (Turkish vay, a Persian borrowing), and Armenian ??? (vay).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /w??/
• (General American) enPR: w?, IPA^(key): /wo?/
• Rhymes: -??
• Homophone: whoa (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

woe (countable and uncountable, plural woes)

1. Great sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.

   Synonyms: grief, sorrow, misery

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost

     Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, / Sad instrument of all our woe, she took.

   • 1717, Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard

     Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose / That well-known name awakens all my woes.

   • October 14 2017, Sandeep Moudgal, The Times of India, Rains devastate families, political parties make beeline to apply balm on open wounds

     The Friday night rains which wrecked families in Kurabarahalli saw all the three major political parties making a beeline to express their condolences, listen to their woes and provide compensation in the hope of garnering their goodwill ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.

2. Calamity, trouble.
3. A curse; a malediction.

   • Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

woe (comparative more woe, superlative most woe)

1. (obsolete) Woeful; sorrowful
   • 1303, Robert of Brunne, Handlyng synne

     hys clerk was wo to do þat dede

   • Wo was the knight and sorroufully he syketh.

Interjection

woe

1. (archaic) An exclamation of grief.

Translations

Anagrams

• owe

Limburgish

Adverb

woe

1. where

Alternative forms

• boe (Maastrichtian)

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wuo, from Proto-Germanic *hw?.

Adverb

woe

1. (eastern) Alternative form of hoe

Middle English

Pronoun

woe

1. Alternative form of we (“we”)