Whistleblower changes tune, again, president-elect Plus, the increase that we do see can probably be explained away by the huge increase in use of whoa overall. Whoa, W-H-O-A, is the correct spelling of this word and dates back to at least the 17th century. He thought, “Whoa, that looks like Billy the Kid.” –, “The realization that I could have easily died – that was like woah [read whoa], I’m 16, that’s crazy to think about,” Haugh said. Part of what is going on with the story of woah and whoa is that informal interjectional uses are making it into published, edited text far more frequently than they used to. (wəʊ ) exclamation. What is even more telling is that the sources in which woah appears have many more examples of whoa than they do of woah. Whoa is an interjection, meaning it’s typically used by itself outside of a sentence… “Whoa” can mean “stop,” like in this Keanu Reeves clip from “Sweet November,” or it can mean “wow,” like he often said in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” It’s supposed to be spelled W-H-O-A, but I keep seeing it spelled W-O-A-H and hearing complaints from other people who see it spelled that way. People do misspell it online and occasionally in print, but the graph above clearly shows the spelling is one-sided in edited, professional writing. Is it time to accept 'woah' as an acceptable spelling of 'whoa'? (Definition of whoa from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press) But on to woah: the story starts with farm animals. There are two primary spelling errors that take place with the word whoa. But, (perhaps) interestingly, it depends on which English speaking country you live in as to which is considered “standard”. Still not sure you can remember woah vs. whoa? The Origin of ‘Whoa’ For now, we're going to stick with the more common spelling. Wellbeing or Well-Being – Which is Correct? a command used esp to horses to stop or slow down. [read whoa] –. Dialog vs. Oh, it's nowhere near as common as whoa, that's true. Or, if you are having a conversation, you might use it to encourage your partner to pause. How do you spell whoa? Glamor or Glamour – What’s the Difference? If you can remember that the “h” and the “o” need to be next to each other, you will be set. It's not that the language as it's used outside of published, edited text is less effective in communicating; it's that looking at the language as it's used in published, edited text provides a scope for our work that is both useful to our readers and possible for our lexicographers. 1 —a command (as to a draft animal) to stand still. This word is almost 400 years old; why the uptick now? Collins English Dictionary. We can't scan the Facebook threads of millions of speakers of English for variant spellings, and most of you likely care more about whether a particular spelling has met the editorial standards of the likes of Forbes and The Atlantic than those of your cousin Steve. All of this said, there is no real evidence to suggest widespread increase in the misuse of whoa. Home » Whoa or Woah: What’s the Difference? And given the informal nature of social media and the Internet, the conditions are ripe for misspellings. The best way to remember the spelling of whoa is to simply ask yourself “How do I spell whoa?” Write this sentence down and say it aloud to yourself. hold!," and the notes "a word used by teamsters in stopping their teams" and "written also whoa." But is it an established variant? Whoa, when did you become such a great photographer? This last meaning probably gave rise to the slang expression “like whoa.” What does whoa mean? That's the question we answer. The spelling woah has likely been simmering since the late 18th century, mostly not making it into published works. In An American Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged an entry for whoa directed the reader to ho (also styled as hoa) which was defined as an interjection with the jarringly exclamation-marked "stop! In this post, I will discuss the proper spelling and common misspellings of this word and give a brief outline of its history. Is a particular spelling regarded as an error by the people whose jobs it is to consider such things? It is true that this graph only deals with books; it doesn’t take into account online newspapers and magazines, blogs, social media, etc., which are where the errors most likely take place. This means people don’t see it as often in text. While woah is about as common as whoa was at the end of the 20th century, whoa is by some estimations 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'? It means that the story of woah is still in flux, but that current evidence shows that it's not yet an established spelling variant in US English. This article is an investigation of just that. Is it woah or whoa? It’s the only spelling in wide use. When you are dealing with a word that is transmitted primarily through oral communications, such as an exclamation, spelling often varies, so let’s set the record straight. That's right, dear readers: we're considering entering the spelling woah as a variant spelling of whoa. Object found in Utah desert, recant As I mentioned above, this word is primarily communicated through speech; it’s an exclamation. –, I sampled several items, the first being John’s famous shrimp and spinach enchilada—two corn tortillas filled with sauteed grilled shrimp, covered with salsa blanca especial, topped with Jack cheese and sides of Mexican cilantro rice and black beans. stand still! Dialogue: What’s the Difference? 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. There is only one correct spelling of whoa, but there are a few misspellings. Whoa. If it isn’t regularly seen in text, the spelling is likely to vary quite a bit, as writers aren’t sure how to spell whoa themselves. Plus, at the end, I will give a tip to remember the correct spelling: whoa or woah? “Whoa” predates “Woah” by about ten years. What does whoa mean? “Woah” is the favored spelling in the UK, while both spellings are in common use … It’s whoa. Biden projected 46th President. So, why the uptick in misspellings of whoa? Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe... Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? In this dictionary you will find an entry for whoa, in which the word is defined with the following: 1 —a command (as to a draft animal) to stand still, 2 : cease or slow a course of action or a line of thought : pause to consider or reconsider —often used to express a strong reaction (such as alarm or astonishment), Although print evidence of whoa in use dates to the 15th century, the word was not common enough to be included in Noah Webster's 1828 An American Dictionary of the English Language. In the late 19th century, the word developed its more common modern use (sense 2 above), as in "Whoa, that's interesting.". monolith Whoa comes from the word ho, which first came into Middle English as a command to slow down or draw your horse to a stop. Looking at the entry for whoa in the historical Oxford English Dictionary, which includes examples tracing the word from its earliest use and into the current century, we see a variety of spellings employed: whoo, who, whoe, woyh, whoh, wo, woo, woa, and, with the first example from a 1790 source identified only as Merry Companion, woah. Since the 1990s especially, woah has been making inroads into formerly whoa-exclusive territory, with the Lexis-Nexis "All English Language News" database showing woah start to appear in news transcripts and a few major newspapers as the century reached its close. Set your young readers up for lifelong success, Study Up With Our Official SCRABBLE Dictionary. The above chart graphs whoa vs. woah vs. whoah on a timeline since the year 1800. Catsup vs. Ketchup: What’s the Difference? Learn a new word every day. In the late 20th century, though, that started to change. Furthermore, words like whoa are particularly vulnerable to misspellings by nature. In the current century, woah has continued to grow in prevalence. As you can clearly see, the “increase” in the two misspelling is so negligible that it hardly registers a blip on the screen. How and whoa both have the ho next to each other. The spelling variants we include in our dictionaries are, like the words and their definitions, based on evidence, and primarily on evidence as found in published, edited text. Not so fast. Aside from its use with horses, whoa is a popular exclamation used to express surprise, amazement, or great pleasure. What is the Difference Between Whoa and Woah? Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time. This command is especially associated with its use to get a horse to stop or slow down. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. You can even use it when something unexpected or amazing gives you pause. Whoa is also used as a command to stop. These spaces do not have the same kinds of editorial requirements that traditional publications have, making them ripe for misspellings.