Oy vey (), or just oy, is an exclamation of dismay or exasperation It is a cognate of the German expression Oh weh, or Au weh, a common expression used in Bavaria and Austria in similar situations, combining the German and Dutch exclamation Au! meaning "Ouch/Oh" and the German word Weh, a cognate of the English word woe (as well as Dutch wee meaning pain). The expression is also related to Oh ve, an older Danish expression that derives from Low German and Oy Wah, an expression used with a similar meaning in the Montbéliard region in France.
Alternative theories for the origin of the Yidd...