oy vey


Also found in: Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.

oy vey

(oi′ vā′)
interj.
Used to express irritation, dismay, sorrow, or self-pity.

[Yiddish : oy, interjection expressing irritation or sorrow + vey, woe (from Middle High German , from Old High German wah, wē; akin to Old English waā, woe!)]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Oy vey! What in the world is that schmutzige rag doing in this apartment?
Oy vey! So what happens if this so-called law crosses the ocean and African-American schoolchildren get hold of it?
But all that can be said to that is "Oy vey", because even the ritual circumcision was less painful to watch than Bernette hamming it up for the cameras.
(For the Rauch, it suggests either the Oy Vey reuben or the marinated barbecue beef.)
Bad news - we can find no trace in the programme of the excellent Yiddish teen thriller, Poison Oy Vey!
There are also a number of Jewish gestures such as shrugs and throwing hands up the air as if to say "Oy vey!" and even the not-so-flattering rubbing together of fingers, indicating a desire for money.
The gang at ABC's This Week was celebrating the Liggett smoking settlement, and Will remarked: "If everyone quit smoking today, it would be a calamity for Social Security." Oy vey, and the program is already a wreck!
Some may say "Oy vey!'' to all this kitschy retooling of Christmas stuff for Jewish consumers.
The latest offender in the Yiddish trend piece cycle, to which Young seems to be responding directly, is an article published in the Atlantic last week titled, "Oy Vey: Yiddish Has a Problem."
Blow published an op-ed piece titled "Oy Vey, Obama." The column was framed and worded in such a manner that we cannot be sure whether Blow harbors antisemitic sentiments.