Oy vey

[happygirl]

I had never heard this term until I started to hang around the Dis boards, Is this a common saying where you are from?

 

[Disney Ella]

If you mean the Yiddish expression "oy vey" then yes. My Jewish co-worker says it all the time.

 

[Goofyluver]

Awwwl the time. My motha's a New York Jew.

 

[mamamary]

If you mean the Yiddish expression "oy vey" then yes. My Jewish co-worker says it all the time.

My sister says this all the time. My daughter picked up on it and I mentioned it to my sister. She said she didn't even realize she said it but starting laughing cause a co-worker who is a good friend (yes Jewish) says it all the time. She said she had to have picked up saying it from her. So now me and my daughter say it too. But we usually just say the oy not the vey.

 

[JessicaR]

Yes very common around here and havent you ever watched The Nanny?

 

[Jennasis]

Not common here in NC but was a daily thing back on Long Island where I grew up.

 

[mrsv98]

I was the only Gentile among my HS friends so yes...Oy Vey is a part of my lexicon!

 

[leight]

I also grew up on LI -& although I grew up italian, I had a lot of jewish friends so it is just part of my everyday language!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

First time DD heard me say this I got the face and I was told not to say bad words. She did not believe me when I told her it wasn't a bad word. She didn't believe me until I called my friend (Jewish) and had her explain to her that it wasn't a bad word.

 

[Andtototoo]

Where I live now -- flyover country -- I am the only one saying it.

Where I grew up -- NY -- everyone said it.

 

[frndshpcptn]

Yup - I say it pretty much everyday for one reason or another

 

[happygirl]

I guess that explains why I had never heard of it sounds like it pretty much a east coast thing. I'm in the middle west

 

[mdsoccermom]

Well, I'm Jewish but never said it growing up nor did my family. Our family is Sephardic, so Yiddish expressions rarely found their way into our vocabulary.

 

[donalducky]

I'm in the mid west too and I've never heard anyone say it. I on the other hand say it all the time now because of the Nanny. I love that show.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

It's a Yiddish thing, not an East Coast thing.

 

[MIGrandma]

My DD and one of her friends used to say that to each other all the time, when they were in high school (they graduated 11 years ago).

 

[SleepyMom]

Midwest here my entire life and I have heard it and used it a lot.

Another one we hear and use is uffda, I think it might be either Swedish or Norwegian because everyone in my family knows it.

 

[disfan07]

Definitely. If you are Jewish I swear you are born saying it. My mom has home vidoes of me and my brother and you can hear me saying it when I was like 2. I worked at a Jewish Community Center and it was always so funny to hear the toddlers say it.

Oy and Oy Vey are eveyrday vocabulary of mine.

 

[mdsoccermom]

It is not a term that is specific to a region in the United States. It is a Yiddish term. Prior to the rise in Hebrew as a conversational language (as opposed to one reserved for prayer) Yiddish was the language of Ashkenazi Jews. 80% of the world's Jews and Jews in the United States are Ashkenazi.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I've never heard it here in WI