The sound of disgust

Penyafort

Penyafort

Senior Member
Catalan (Catalonia), Spanish (Spain)
What is the most common (written) onomatopoeia for disgust in your language? I'm particularly referring to those you'd express due to the unpleasant view of a gross scene or the taste of something repulsive.

Examples:

English: yuck!, ugh!​
Catalan: ecs!​
Spanish: ¡puaj!​

Thanks in advance.
 
    • Finnish:
    yök! ['yøk] or yäk! ['yæk]

    yökätä ['yøkætæ] = to vomit, to gag
    yököttää ['yøkøttææ] = to feel disgusted, nauseated
     
    In Russian the closest thing is imitation of vomiting, something like [bˠʉ'æ]. Not sure that generally non-phonemic combination of sounds can be spelled in Russian at all.
     
    Welsh_Sion said:
    Is it not beurk ! in French, @Yendred?
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    Yes indeed 👍
    beurk ! /bœʁk/

    81aKG2Bv5pL.jpg


    Or similarly to Spanish
    Penyafort said:
    Spanish: ¡puaj!
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    poua(h) ! /pwa/

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    Awwal12 said:
    In Russian the closest thing is imitation of vomiting, something like [bˠʉ'æ]. Not sure that generally non-phonemic combination of sounds can be spelled in Russian at all.
    Click to expand...
    P.S.: фу ['fu] is a standard expression of disgust or deep dissatisfaction (and also the command 'stop that!' for dogs), but I don't think it's used particularly often.
     
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    Penyafort said:
    What is the most common (written) onomatopoeia for disgust in your language? I'm particularly referring to those you'd express due to the unpleasant view of a gross scene or the taste of something repulsive.

    Examples:

    English: yuck!, ugh! ​
    ​
    Click to expand...
    Also very frequently. .. Bla!
     
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    Welsh_Sion said:
    The one all learners of Welsh come across very soon in their studies: ych-a-fi! /əX a vi/.
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    It seems to be the only one so far which is a phrase, not just a word. :)
    If "ych" on its own can mean "yuck", what does "a fi" add? Is "fi" here the same as the pronoun (I, me)?
    Something like "Yucky me!"? :D
     
    @AndrasBP: Don't forget also 'the rhyming yuck', too: ych p\ych. (That's supposed to be 'y grave accent' to denote a short vowel, but not schwa but I can't find the symbol.)

    ych-a-fi (and its counterpart, ach-a-fi) don't seem to be making reference to the 1st pers. sing. pronoun. That said, I can't find any etymology on GPC, but ach, och and ych all seem to indicate some interjection (of surprise, awe, disgust etc.). Anyone else find any further etymology?
     
    I've heard Americans say fui/phooey to their misbehaving dogs -- Americans who (to my knowledge) have no knowledge of a Slavic language. ?? Interesting.

    In addition to Penyafort's yuck and ugh, in the US you will also hear English speakers say yecch, ick, blech, eew, and a sort of peuh: a voiced -p- sound with an extra puff of air, sometimes said exaggeratedly as pee-yew for a foul smell.
    Example, said by a child about the family's large pet dog, who has digestive issues in its old age: "Pee-yew! Mom!! Boomer farted! Open the windows!!" (possibly said as an excuse to distract attention from the child's own stinky farts.)
     
    Roxxxannne said:
    I've heard Americans say fui/phooey to their misbehaving dogs -- Americans who (to my knowledge) have no knowledge of a Slavic language. ?? Interesting.
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    German would be my first suspect here (cf. German pfui). Fu(j) in Slavic languages must be a relatively late onomatopoeia, probably partially loaned too (proto-Slavic lacked /f/, and in Slavic languages /f/ most typically occurs in loanwords, though in Russian [f] sound occurs frequently as a positional devoicing of /v/).
     
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