Hunglish.orgJaj: It's a simple, all-purpose monosyllable in Hungarian. But how do you translate it...?
Written by Scott Savoie
“Jaj!” (pronounced “yoy”) is an Hungarian expression that can be translated in many different ways. It can mean anything from “alas!” to “ouch.” “Jaj” can mean “oh my!” or “look what we have here.”
If exclaimed during sex, it can mean anything from “I am enjoying this” to “I am not enjoying this.” Similar to “Ooh my God!”
Jaj is a kind of funny word for me, because growing up where I did it was a kind of nonsense word. We used it like a lot of children use the word “duh.” (Incidentally also a Hungarian word.) It means the other person just said or did something incredibly stupid or obvious.
“Yoy” also meant something like “big deal” in the schoolyard slang of my youth.
We would say something like “We are going to the wastewater treatment plant for a field trip. Yoy.”
This is not to be confused with “yayyy!” “Yay” (with any number of y’s) is an expression of happiness or relief, but to a Hungarian it looks like “jaj,” often an expression of sorrow and loss.
“Jaj” probably comes from a similar Yiddish word.
It just goes to illustrate how these funny noises we make and write can be misinterpreted from one culture to another.
Duh.