“Oh, my God!” or “Good grief!”
Oy vey (Yiddish: אױ װײ ‎) or oy vey ist mir is a Yiddish phrase expressing dismay or exasperation. Also spelled oy vay, oy veh, or oi vey, and often abbreviated to oy, the expression may be translated as, oh, woe! or woe is me!. Its Hebrew equivalent is oy vavoy. The Latin equivalent is heu, vae! (pronounced, hoi, vai, amongst others); a more standard expression would be o, me miserum, or heu, me miserum. According to Chabad.org, an alternative theory for the origin of the Yiddish expression is that oy stems from Biblical Hebrew, and that vey is its Aramaic equivalent. More or less. A related exclamation is oy vey iz mir - Oh, woe is me or just vey iz mir --woe is me. It is related to the expression All express shock or amazement. Oy! is often just used by itself to express any of these feelings.  William Lasser writes from the political science department of Clemson University to ask where the expression “ Oy, gevalt !” comes from. This is a reasonable question, because the literal meaning of the Yiddish word gevalt (or gevald, as it is sometimes spelled) does not explain the expression. “ Oy, gevalt !” (or just plain “ Gevalt !”) has the sense of “Oh, my God!” or “Good grief!” as uttered when something unfortunate has happened — when you have just discovered, say, that you have locked your car keys in the car, or when your dinner partner has spilled wine all over you. Oy vey, oy vay, or just oy — or even more elaborately oy vey iz mir, oh weh! — is an exclamation of dismay or exasperation meaning something like oh, pain or woe is me.  Yiddish phrase. exclamation of surprise, incredulity, or simply used to emphasize a statement. often used when kvetching. alt. spelling: oy gevaldt. oy gevalt! don't scare me like that. oy gevalt, not again. Like most Yiddish expressions, this is Mediaeval Low German. In Modern German it would be spelled Ach! Gewalt!. Gewalt is a word that means strength or force, But in this context means violence. I see others referring to the Yiddish expression oy vay zmir. The full-blown expression oy vey or even the single syllable word “oy” is used all the time by Jews and others who want to express themselves. We’re taking a look at the meaning and origin of this popular phrase. Advertisement.  The expression is often abbreviated to simply oy, or elongated to oy vey ist mir (Oh, woe is me). The fuller lament may also be spelled as Oy vey iz mir. The main purpose or effect of elongating it is often dramatic, something like a cosmic ouch. The Latin equivalent is heu, vae! (pronounced, hoi, vai, amongst others); a more standard expression would be o, me miserum, or heu, me miserum. According to Chabad.org, an alternative theory for the origin of the Yiddish expression is that oy stems from Biblical Hebrew, and that vey is its Aramaic equivalent. Wiktionary (4.00 / 3 votes) Rate this definition: oy gevalt (Interjection). Oh, God!. oy gevalt (Interjection). uh-oh!, woe is me!. oy gevalt (Interjection). Enough already.. Origin: From אױ גװאַלד (oy gvald). This comes from Gewalt (power, force violence); the similar Polish gwałt (violence) is also from German, (the Polish and Ukranian word has since gravitated into rape).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oy_vey https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080817152528AAzjMUV http://forward.com/articles/4093/oy-gevalt/ http://www.definitions.net/definition/oy%20vey http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=oy%20gevalt http://www.beliefnet.com/prayables/motivation/meaning-of-oy-vey.aspx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oy_vey http://www.definitions.net/definition/oy%20gevalt
oy gevalt meaning