achyfi

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>I have seen "ach y fi" (spaced thus) in Welsh dialogue in, iirc, Susan
>Cooper's prize-winning YA fantasy novel (in English) _The Grey King_. ....

Aha! I should have tried splitting it up! Several Web sites show "ach y fi"
-- also "ach-a-fi" -- as "a Welsh expression of disgust".

Apparently it appears in Dylan Thomas, "Under Milk Wood"; there is a
commentary including the expression at

http://jade.ccccd.edu/grooms/geirn1.htm

I think the expression is probably being likened to Yiddish "Oy vay" in one
Web item:

http://home.ccil.org/%7Ecowan/sessiwn/msg00298.html

I suspect that the Japanese lexicographers did an automated search for ALL
words in a huge body of English, and picked up a few marginal items. I
applaud the thoroughness. Of course the spaces may not be entirely fixed in
such an expression even in English, much less in Japanese.

-- Doug Wilson