Exclamations

Exclamations

NN1 Other words like ‘yes’: “Are you coming along too?” “________.”

NN2 Exclamations of very strong agreement: Somebody says, “I think Smith is absolutely right,” and you reply, “________.”

NN3 Words and expressions meaning ‘Don’t you agree?’: “We ought to come back here again, ________?”

NN4 Other ways of answering ‘no’: “Would you lend him ten dollars?” “________.”

NN5 Other ways of saying ‘Do you understand?’: “You take hold of it this way, ________?”

NN6a Exclamations of joy—for example, when somebody gets a pleasant surprise, she might shout, “________.”

NN6b Expressions of joy used mostly by children around here:

NN7 Exclamations of surprise: “They’re getting married next week? Well, ________.”

NN8b Expressions of annoyance: “This jar won’t come open, ________ it.”

NN9b Exclamations showing great annoyance: “He’s run off with my hammer again, ________ !”

NN10a Expressions (such as ‘hello’) used when you meet somebody you know quite well:

NN10b Greetings used when you meet somebody you do not know well:

NN11 Informal ways of saying ‘good-bye’ to people you know quite well:

NN12a Things that people say to put a child off when he asks too many questions: “What’s that for?”

NN12b Things that people say to put off a child when she asks, “What are you making?”

NN13 When you think someone just said something silly or untrue: “Oh, that’s a lot of ________.”

NN17 Something that keeps on annoying you—for example, a fly that keeps buzzing around you: “That ________ fly won’t go away.”

NN18 When somebody sneezes, you might say, “________.”

NN19 When you want people to stop talking for a moment so that you can listen for something, you say:

NN22a Expressions used to drive away animals—for example, flies:

NN22b Expressions used to drive away children:

NN22c Expressions used to drive away a dog:

NN22d Expressions used to drive away animals other than dogs:

NN24 Humorous substitutes for stronger exclamations: “Why, the son of a(n) ________!”

NN25a Weakened substitutes for ‘damn’ or ‘damned’: “________ it all!”

NN25b Weakened substitutes for ‘damn’ or ‘damned’: “Well, I’ll be ________!”

NN26a Weakened substitutes for ‘hell’: “Oh ________!”

NN26b Weakened substitutes for ‘hell’: “Go to ________!”

NN26c Weakened substitutes for ‘hell’: “What the (or in) ________!”

NN27a Weakened substitutes for ‘God’: “My ________!”

NN27b Weakened substitutes for ‘God’: “For ________ sake(s)!”

NN28a Exclamations beginning with ‘good’: “Good ________!”

NN28b Exclamations beginning with ‘goodness’: “Goodness ________!”

NN29a Exclamations beginning with ‘great’: “Great ________!”

NN29b Exclamations beginning with ‘land’: “Land ________!”

NN29c Exclamations beginning with ‘holy’: “Holy ________!”

NN30 Exclamations beginning with the sound of ‘j’:

NN31 Exclamations beginning with the sound of ‘cr-’, for example, ‘cripes’:

NN32 Exclamations like ‘I swear’ or ‘I vow’: “I(’ll) ________.”

DARE Data Summary by Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.