oof
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /uːf/, /ʊf/
- (General American) enPR: ūf, IPA(key): /uf/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -uːf, -ʊf
Etymology 1
An onomatopoeia. Similar to Dutch oef and German uff.
The usage of this term on the Internet was popularized by the game Roblox.
Interjection
oof
- (onomatopoeia) A sound mimicking the loss of air, as if someone's solar plexus had just been struck.
- 1989 June 5, The Canberra Times, Australia Captial Territory, page 10, column 2:
- Whap, Biff, Ooooof, Sock, Pow, Zok! Batman is back. Gotham City is again leaving its law and order in the hands of a man who wears plastic underpants over his tights.
- (slang) Synonym of ouch (“expressing sympathy at another's pain, shock at a high price, etc.”)
- 2017, Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy:
- "Oof, you just lost a lot of progress. That's a real frustration, a real punch in the gut."
Noun
oof (plural oofs)
- A sound made in pain, as when expelling air after being struck.
- 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 33:
- The soldier on the ground clutched his head and then his stomach and gave an "oof" of pain.
- (Internet) Something cringeworthy, or which arouses disappointment, often used in conjunction with the qualifier big.
- 2022 July 27, Eleni Thomas, “Roblox is removing iconic “oof” sound after copyright issues”, in Dexerto[1]:
- Fans were quick to express their disappointment at the removal of what has now become an iconic sound in the gaming space. The audio is trending on Twitter under #SaveTheOOF and Big Oof.
- 2022 September 22, Vinepair Staff, “The Cocktail College Podcast: How to Make the Perfect El Diablo”, in The Cocktail College Podcast[2]:
- That actually hits me home because I used to drink tequila sunrises when I first started drinking. So that’s an oof.
Etymology 2
Noun
oof (uncountable)
- (UK, slang, dated) Money. [c. 1850 – c. 1940]
- 1888, H. Rider Haggard, Colonel Quaritch V.C. (archive.org ebook), page 232:
- “Oh,” Johnnie was saying, “so Quest is his name, is it, and he lives in a city called Boisingham, does he? Is he an oof bird?” (rich)
“Rather,” answered the Tiger, “if only one can make the dollars run, but he's a nasty mean boy, he is.
- “Oh,” Johnnie was saying, “so Quest is his name, is it, and he lives in a city called Boisingham, does he? Is he an oof bird?” (rich)
- 1900, Harry B. Norris (lyrics and music), “Burlington Bertie”:
- Burlington Bertie's the latest young jay
He rents a swell flat somewhere Kensington way
He spends the good oof that his pater has made
Along with the Brandy and Soda Brigade.
- 1911–1912, published 1916, Gilbert Parker, The World For Sale, book 2, chapter 10 (Gutenberg ebook, archive.org ebook):
- What's he after? Oof—oof—oof, that's what he's after. He's for his own pocket, he's for being boss of all the woolly West. He's after keeping us poor and making himself rich.
- 1991 May 12, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:
- Chuffy: It's on a knife edge at the moment, Bertie. If he can get planning permission, old Stoker's going to take this heap off my hands in return for vast amounts of oof.
- 1888, H. Rider Haggard, Colonel Quaritch V.C. (archive.org ebook), page 232:
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:money
Derived terms
- feathered oof-bird (“large source of money”)
- make the oof-bird walk (“to circulate money”)
- oof-bag (“source of money”)
- oof-bird (“source of money”)
- oofless (“poor”)
- oofy (“rich”)
- pad the oof (“to fold banknotes to appear twice as much”)
References
- John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1902) “oof”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume V, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 107.
- “oof”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
Hawaiian Creole
Pronunciation
Verb
oof
Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːf
- Rhymes:English/uːf/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/ʊf
- Rhymes:English/ʊf/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English interjections
- English onomatopoeias
- English terms with quotations
- English slang
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Internet
- English clippings
- English uncountable nouns
- British English
- English dated terms
- en:Pain
- Hawaiian Creole terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hawaiian Creole lemmas
- Hawaiian Creole verbs
- Hawaiian Creole vulgarities