Oy oy oy oy oy oy!

Uses of the Russian word “oy”

Oy oy oy oy oy! (sad as fast as possible, in a high range). Translation: This is my metro stop! Move out of my way or I won’t be able to get out.

Oy. (Said at a regular speed in a lower register). Translation: Wow.

Oy. (Said at a faster speed in a swooping up). Oops. I just dropped all of the contents of my purse onto the floor.

Oy? Translation: What? I didn’t quite catch that but if you said what I think you said it would be odd…(always accompanied with a confused look)

Oy. (Sad slowly, preferably with your head nodding in the “no” horizontal fashion). That’s terrible.