Another Word for "Wow!"

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Sohia Rose

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Give me another word or phrase for "Wow!"––something that's secular.

The body of work is conversational and informal.

Thanks people!
 

giftedrhonda

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Holy cow!

Amazing!

Stunning!

That's great!
 

Sohia Rose

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Thanks. I like the "Holy cow!" and the "Whoa!"

I forgot to mention that it's a "Wow!" in a bad way, an unpleasant surprise.
 

Vincent

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Gee wiz.

Okay, maybe not.
 

WildScribe

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Could always go with the classics:

"Bummer"

and

"Shit"
 
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You can offend anyone with any word if you tried hard enough.

It's not those who would possibly be offended that matter here, it's the characters and using language that would be true to them.
 

Sohia Rose

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You can offend anyone with any word if you tried hard enough.

It's not those who would possibly be offended that matter here, it's the characters and using language that would be true to them.

Yeh, I get what you're saying. I rarely use profanity verbally (unless I'm pissed off! But I make a conscious effort to use it), but I don't particularly like to read it. If I come across profanity in text (I did once in GQ or Details Mag), I'm turned off by it. My WIP is a non-fiction, how-to book.

I think "profanity in text" would be an interesting forum-topic discussion. I'd love to hear writers' opinions on the matter. :)
 

WildScribe

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Uh, yea, I would skip "shit" in non-fiction. Unless you're Dave Barry, maybe. Or something... :)
 

Sohia Rose

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Uh, yea, I would skip "shit" in non-fiction. Unless you're Dave Barry, maybe. Or something... :)

LMAO!

My WIP is comparable to the series': The Complete Idiot's Guide to XXXXX or XXXXX for Dummies. It has a little humor in it. In fact, I might shop it to them. I love those books.
 

pink lily

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This thread reminds me of an old joke.

Two former friends bumped into each other, and one of them, draped in a mink coat and dripping in jewelry, went on and on about what she'd been up to in recent years.

"I've married one of the richest men in the state," said the well-dressed woman, snottily.

"Astounding," replied the modest former friend.

"And we live in the most luxurious mansion in town," bragged the wealthy woman.

"Astounding," said the second woman, hesitantly.

"We're the most popular couple at the country club," sneered the first woman.

"Astounding," said the other woman, quietly.

"So what have you been doing all this time?" asked the stuck-up woman.

"I've been going to charm school," replied the polite woman.

"Oh?" scoffed the rich woman, "what have you been doing there?"

The gentle woman said with a smile, "I've been learning how to say 'astounding' instead of 'bullshit.'"
 

Lance_in_Shanghai

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At first, I thought of Gomer Pile: "Shazam!"
But when you said it should be a way bad "Wow", I am lost. We rarely hear "Wow" associated with disappointed even though in the original Scottish it meant simply "I'm amazed!". Maybe that's why you are on this quest, since you prbably wouldn't feel fulfilled with "Wow, damn it to hell!" Seems a bit like saying, "Yum! This meatloaf is awful!"

In Chinese, one says "Ai-ya!" for any strong exclamation, good or bad. I think Mexicans say "Ai-yai-yai!" in much the same way.
French say "Oh, le-le!"(less often pronounced "Ooo, la-la" but this has become the standard Hollywood interpretation) and, for more effect, "Oh, le-le, le-le, le-le!" Resorting to six "le's" means "Oh – my – God" as the youth of today would express it. For them, the higher the level of amazement, the longer they must pause between words.
In Yiddish, it's "Oy-vey!" for any amazement.

Often sarcasm steps up to the plate in times of dispair.
"Oh, that's just great!" "Lovely!" "I like that!"
 

ErylRavenwell

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If your character's a complete nutter, try fantasmagoric. Not to confuse with phantasmagoric, which is actually a respectable word featured in the dictionary. The former is slang for fantastic and orgasm.
 
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