oi
/ɔɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English
2
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A working-class punk rock subgenre of the 1970s, sometimes associated with racism.
British usage; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Oi, you with the red hat – what do you think you're doing?"
- "Oi! Stop that!"
- "Oi! This is new!"
- "Oi! How's it going?"
- "Such is the vocal power of water bailiffs and farmers that their ‘Ois!’ can be projected at small boys from anything up to five miles away and still induce heart-failure."
- "A way for Oi musicians to avoid responsibility for acts of violence that were preceded by listening to Oi is the claim that what people do with their music is out of the control of the musicians themselves."
Etymology
Variant of the interjection hoy with h-dropping in working class and Cockney speech; first recorded in the 1930s. Compare also unrelated Portuguese oi and Japanese おい (oi).
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ɔɪ/
Usage
- British usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Music.