Oom vs Oof - What's the difference?
oom | oof |
(South Africa) An older man, especially an uncle. (Frequently as a respectful form of address.)
*1979 , , A Dry White Season , Vintage 1998, p. 73:
*:He raised his glass. ‘Here's to you, Oom Ben,’ he said. ‘Give them hell.’
----
A sound mimicking the loss of air, as if someone's solar plexus had just been struck.
Money.
* 1888 , , Colonel Quaritch V.C. (
* 1911–1912 , published 1916, , The World For Sale , book 2, chapter 10 (
As nouns the difference between oom and oof
is that oom is (south africa) an older man, especially an uncle (frequently as a respectful form of address) while oof is money.As an interjection oof is
a sound mimicking the loss of air, as if someone's solar plexus had just been struck.oom
English
Noun
(en noun)oof
English
Etymology 1
(onomatopoeia)Interjection
(en interjection)Etymology 2
From (ooftish) or possibly connected with (etyl)Noun
(-)archive.org ebook), page 232:
- “Oh,” Johnnie was saying, “so Quest is his name, is it, and he lives in a city called Boisingham, does he? Is he an oof bird?” (rich)
“Rather,” answered the Tiger, “if only one can make the dollars run, but he's a nasty mean boy, he is.
Gutenberg ebook], [http://www.archive.org/details/worldforsaleano00parkgoog archive.org ebook):
- What's he after? Oof—oof—oof , that's what he's after. He's for his own pocket, he's for being boss of all the woolly West. He's after keeping us poor and making himself rich.
