ouais
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French
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From oui via dialectal variants; also possibly from oyez.
Before becoming an informal synonym of oui, the word was exclamatory. According to Auguste Scheler, it could be linked to Indo-European roots: οὐαί (ouaí) in Greek, vae in Latin, uau in Portuguese, wow in English, wau in German, guau in Spanish or vai in Romanian.
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]ouais
- (informal) Synonym of oui; yeah, yep, yup, yes, affirmative expression
- (informal) Synonym of oui (used to express consent)
- (dated) wow
- Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris, 1832
- Ouais ! dit le roi en se grattant l’oreille gauche avec la main droite, cela fait un bon bout de ma ville !
- Wow! said the king, scratching his left ear with his right hand, that's quite a bit of my town!
- Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris, 1832
- (informal) whoo (expresses joy)