WHOA: The
American Sign Language (ASL) sign for "whoa"
There are many approaches in ASL to expressing the concept of "whoa."
Instead, think about your general meaning and try to pick an ASL sign that
closely matches your intended meaning.
The concept of "whoa" is often (but certainly not always) expressed by waving a
"Y" handshape in front of the face.
This sign is a multi-meaning ASL sign used as an exclamation or strong comment
expressing intensity, depth (psychological or emotional), or profoundness.
The specific meaning of the sign can (and does) vary widely depending on the
context and how it is inflected (or in other words small changes in the movement
of the sign and/or changes in facial expression influence the meaning of this
sign).
I hesitate to attach any specific English word to the sign because the sign can
be used to express everything from extreme excitement to deep dismay at and
profound impact from an event.
In other words -- this is truly a multi-meaning sign that can be inflected to
express a range of specific English phrases.
I do not wish to trivialize the depth of this sign by labeling it with mere
English but for now let's call it: "Whoa!" (As in "Oh wow!") It sort of
means "Oh my god!" -- but keep in mind that many just spell OMG when they mean
"Oh my god!"
Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/lp4ZXlYbJRA
And here is another clip to show that the non-manual markers used with the sign
can change to cause the sign to more accurately reflect the intended meaning of
the signer:
For your amusement (?) here is another example:
There are many other ways to express the concept of "Whoa!"
This space will be used to add more examples as time and energy permit.
WHOA! (Hold on there! Calm your jets! Back off!)
Whoa as in "wow!"
Notes:
Name and other information redacted to preserve privacy:
An English grammar enthusiast writes:
From: █████ <███████@█████.com>
To: Dr. Bill
Sent: Sun, Apr 18, 2021 4:02 pm
Subject: Spelling correction
Dear Dr. Bill,
I have been underemployed for quite a while and have been immeasurably blessed
by your free website and comprehensive YouTube videos. I am hearing and have a
████████ who is Deaf. I also know two hearing couples with ███████. We get
together weekly with a couple of other people (usually on █████ since last year)
to practice chatting and sharpen each other's skills. You are a valued resource
and I can't thank you enough.
Today I viewed your pandemic-related videos and finally saw a small way to repay
you. You repeatedly typed out "woah", which is such a common misspelling of the
word "whoa" that there's even a song spelled that way. Trust me, though - there
is no such word as "woah". I know you want to be the best you can be as an
educator and I hope that helps to a small degree.
Stay safe.
Sincerely,
███
------------------------------------------------
Hello ███!
Thanks for reaching out.
Seriously, I mean that! I appreciate your comment.
Let's have some fun with this Whoa / Woah situation shall we?
According to a Wall Street Journal article:
"Woah has been used for years as an alternate spelling of whoa, according to
online databases. But the usage has ticked up dramatically in recent times,
driven by young people who use the term as a social catchphrase. Woah was the
preferred spelling of 29 out of 30 teenagers interviewed by The Wall Street
Journal."
Source: Tales of 'Woah' Have Oldsters Saying 'Whoa' - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tales-of-woah-have-oldsters-saying-whoa-11568385490
----------------------------------
Since (according to the article) 29 out of 30 spell woah the way I do it would
seem that eventually (in the not too distant future) "woah" might just
become the dominant
spelling.
In regard to whether or not the word "woah" is actually a real word -- the
article goes on to state that the Oxford English Dictionary added woah as an
alternate spelling in 2016.
If you go to https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/whoa and take a look at the
entry you'll see that right under the main entry of whoa it includes "woah" in
parentheses as an alternate spelling.
Lexico.com is powered by Oxford's free English dictionary.
I would imagine within a few years the other dictionaries will "catch up" and
reflect the more modern usage.
You stated: "Trust me, though - there is no such word as 'woah.'"
Based on the above references -- I'm going to have to "not" trust you on
that one.
However, I'm sure that there are hundreds of oopsies and misspellings in my
various writings that eventually your eagle eye will spot and can bring to my
attention.
Warm regards and best wishes,
Bill
___________________
William G. Vicars Ed.D.
======================
Reference:
Tales of 'Woah' Have Oldsters Saying 'Whoa'; Fueled by memes and texting, 'woah'
catches on as the preferred spelling for 'whoa' among young people
Olson, Bradley.Wall Street Journal (Online); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]13
Sep 2019.
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