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ho
whoa! (command shouted to stop a draft animal) /ˈho/
other#2170 most common
Also: stop! (said to oxen or horses), hold on! (figurative, to a person)
Example sentences
"Ho!" strigă țăranul la cal.
"Whoa!" the peasant shouts at the horse.
Băiatul a strigat ho ca să oprească boii.
The boy shouted whoa to stop the oxen.
Când calul a început să fugă, vizitiul a strigat "ho, ho!"
When the horse began to bolt, the coachman shouted "whoa, whoa!"
Bunicul meu spunea mereu "ho" înainte să tragă de hățuri.
My grandfather always said "whoa" before pulling on the reins.
În satele de munte, țăranii încă mai strigă ho la vite, așa cum o făceau străbunii lor.
In mountain villages, peasants still shout whoa at their cattle, just as their ancestors did.
Deși tractorul a înlocuit carul cu boi, strigătul de ho, folosit odinioară pentru a opri animalele de povară, a rămas viu în vorbirea populară ca o exclamație de îndoială sau de uimire.
Although the tractor replaced the ox-cart, the shout of whoa, once used to stop draft animals, has stayed alive in popular speech as an exclamation of doubt or surprise.
Word family
ho, ho!doubled for emphasis, whoa there!
hăiscommand telling a draft animal to turn left
ceacommand telling a draft animal to turn right
a strunito rein in, to curb an animal or one's temper
Etymology
Romanian "ho" is an interjection of onomatopoeic origin, a short guttural sound traditionally shouted to make oxen or horses stop. Romanian dictionaries treat it as a natural vocal cry rather than a word inherited from Latin or another ancestor language, so it carries no clear Indo-European root. Its short, sharp shape is functional: an abrupt syllable that cuts through noise and gets an animal's attention instantly.
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