Haw vs Faw - What's the difference?
haw | faw |
An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw'' or ''haw haw haw ).
An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like "haw"; the sound so made.
* Congreve
To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw ; to speak with interruption and hesitation.
An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.
(of an animal) To turn towards the driver, typically to the left.
To cause (an animal) to turn left.
; chiefly used to represent the accent of slaves in the United States .
* 1907 , , Old Creole Days ,
As a proper noun haw
is .As a preposition faw is
; chiefly used to represent the accent of slaves in the united states .haw
English
Etymology 1
ImitativeInterjection
(en interjection)- You think that song was good? Haw!
- Hums or haws .
Usage notes
* (an imitation of laughter) In the US, the spelling haw is rare, with (ha) being more common.Verb
(en verb)Derived terms
* hum and haw, hem and hawEtymology 2
(etyl) hawe, from (etyl) ).Etymology 3
UnknownInterjection
(en interjection)Verb
(en verb)- This horse won't haw when I tell him to.
- You may have to go to the front of the pack and physically haw the lead dog.
Derived terms
* gee haw whimmy diddle * haw and gee, haw and gee aboutAntonyms
* (to turn left) gee * (to cause to turn left) geeEtymology 4
Uncertain.Anagrams
* * ----faw
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)Gutenberg eBook #10234,
- “Now, Colossus, what air you a-beckonin? at me faw ?”