Today we’re going to be looking at the short yet fun word oibò!
According to Treccani, oibò (also written ohibò with an “h”), is an exclamation of onomatopoeic origin used to express a range of emotions, including indignation, nausea, contempt, surprise, and disapproval. Some possible translations include oh, well, oh my, darn and my goodness.
oibò
In spoken Italian, it isn’t an exclamation you will hear regularly, but once you start reading in Italian—especially children’s storybooks—you will encounter it quite often.
Ohibò, non mi aspettavo di vederlo oggi.
Oh my, I didn’t expect to see him today.
Sometimes, you will see it used as a disdainful or resentful expression of refusal or denial. It may also be used ironically or as a joke.
Oibò, non farei mai una cosa simile!
No, I would never do something like that!
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
