Booboos, owies, and ouchies

[David Donnell]

This may be off-topic, since I assume you want words in American English...

In South African English the word "eina" is used (pronounced "ay-nah").

It's also used by my 3 year old daughter here in NYC, because her
mother is a South African native (oops, that's their n-word down
there!).

"Eina", like "ouch", is an interjection expressing sudden pain, but
in babytalk refers to the hurt place on the body itself.

To be on the safe side I taught the word to my daughter's preschool
teachers, and sho nuff it came up when she used it later. But I've
heard her use "booboo" recently, so I'm sure the exotic word's days
are numbered.

Further off-topic: There's a lot of baby-specific terminology that I
only know in South African English, because my wife and her circle of
S.A. friends 'talk that way', and because I'm otherwise unfamiliar
with such baby stuff. Now and then I'm suprised to learn an
equivalent term in American English--e.g., what South Africans (and
I) call a "baby grow" is called a "onesie" in American...

DD
Missourian @ NYC


>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Mark Peters <markpeters33 at YAHOO.COM>
>Subject:      Booboos, owies, and ouchies
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I'm working on a piece for my parenting column. Does anyone know any
>words that go in the same category as booboo, owie, and ouchie?
> 
>Thanks! Appreciate any suggestions or leads.
> 
>By the way, I was amused to learn (after checking the HDAS) that
>booboo has also meant dollar and testicle, as in: "For thirty
>booboos, you can kick me in the booboos."
> 
>Mark
>http://wordlust.blogspot.com/
>
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