Haha, Ouch, Aaaah

[flashpig]

Do other countries have different words for things which seem to be natural sounds? Everybody laughs and screams and makes noises when they get hurt, but do these change between languages? Do the Chinese laugh in a different way from the Welsh?

[smorodina]

The noise for 'Ouch' does vary. Something like 'Ach!' in Germany, 'Ai!' in France and 'Oi!' in Russian and probably lots of others. Laughter seems to be pretty much the same everywhere, though.

 

I don't know how true this is, but when I was at school, a teacher told us that during WW2 one way of testing if someone was a spy was to try to get their guard down and then hit or pinch them. Unless they were very good, the noise they made might give them away.

[sugarmags]

here's a great site regarding animals sounds in different languages. I love this site! http://www.flat33.com/bzzzpeek/index1.html

[smouse]

Sorry not answering question but must say that 'sugarmags' site suggestion is BRILLIANT!! 

[sugarmags]

Oh, thanks so much!! I haven't been to that site in awhile; this question made me rediscover it! Wonderfully designed site!