Query: Origin of "oops"

[Beverly Flanigan]

We said both "hunh-uh" and "unh-uh" in Minnesota too--more or less
interchangeably, though I think (from age-old memory) I said the former
more often.  Jonathan's "unh-unh" would work for me too.  "Uh-uh" wouldn't
be a negative at all for me.

At 11:09 AM 3/15/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>You didn't have to go so far; you could have heard us guys around
>Louisville doing the same "hunh-uh." I have no idea if there is any
>subtle (distributional) difference between the two, but I have both.
>If I were not a sociolinguist and deplored introspection on use with
>every fiber of my being (except for folk linguistic analysis), I
>might opine that the "h"-full form is more deliberate or emphatic,
>but I won't go there.
>
>dInIs
>
>>Looks to me that in fuller context,the Atlantic's "uh-uh!" actually
>>means "uh-oh!"
>>
>>Did I mention once before that when I moved to Tennessee I heard
>>people saying "hunh-unh!" (No!) with quite audible aspiration where
>>I was familiar only with "unh-unh!"
>>
>>Could this be a survival from Middle English ?  You know, like "hit" ?
>>
>>Couldn't resist.  But the reported form is genuine.
>>
>>JL
>
>--
>Dennis R. Preston
>University Distinguished Professor
>Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
>        Asian and African Languages
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