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prettygoodwordTheme week -- interjections, those little words that express something other than being a noun, verb, modifier, or particle.
ahoy (uh-HOI) - inter., (naut.) used to hail a ship or attract attention; (humor.) warning of something approaching or impending.
First that last, often used post-positively, as in "tariffs ahoy!" This is derived from the specialized use when a small boat was approaching a ship, when the coxswain had to warn that an important officer (requiring special greeting) was about to board. As for the word itself, the origin is obscure -- the Middle English form was just hoy, and it has a clear relative in Dutch hoi but which led to to which is unclear. The modern British interjection oi seems to be a decedent (though not the Yiddishism oy (as in oy vay) which has a Hebrew root).
---L.
ahoy (uh-HOI) - inter., (naut.) used to hail a ship or attract attention; (humor.) warning of something approaching or impending.
First that last, often used post-positively, as in "tariffs ahoy!" This is derived from the specialized use when a small boat was approaching a ship, when the coxswain had to warn that an important officer (requiring special greeting) was about to board. As for the word itself, the origin is obscure -- the Middle English form was just hoy, and it has a clear relative in Dutch hoi but which led to to which is unclear. The modern British interjection oi seems to be a decedent (though not the Yiddishism oy (as in oy vay) which has a Hebrew root).
---L.
