French · Exclamations
Oh la vache !
oh la VASH · /o la vaʃ/
Holy cow! / Wow! / Whoa!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"Oh the cow"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Pure astonishment, entirely clean — good news, bad news, a shocking price, an incredible goal. "La vache !" on its own works too. Impossible to offend anyone with this; it's the friendly "holy cow" of French and a great safe reaction word.
Heard in the wild
Oh la vache, t'as vu le prix ?!
Holy cow, did you see the price?!
Where it lands
France (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Oh la vache !" mean?
- In French, "Oh la vache !" means "Holy cow! / Wow! / Whoa!". Literally it's "Oh the cow". Pure astonishment, entirely clean — good news, bad news, a shocking price, an incredible goal. "La vache !" on its own works too. Impossible to offend anyone with this; it's the friendly "holy cow" of French and a great safe reaction word.
- Is "Oh la vache !" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "Oh la vache !"?
- Say it "oh la VASH" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: o la vaʃ.
Related in French
Putain ! poo-TAN Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really Merde ! MEHRD Shit! / Damn! — and, bizarrely, 'good luck' Zut ! ZOOT Darn! / Shoot! Purée ! poo-RAY Sheesh! / Dang! — the clean stand-in for 'putain' Mince ! MANSS Shoot! / Darn! C'est ouf ! say OOF That's insane! / Crazy! (good or bad)
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Unbelievable".
- German Verdammt nochmal! God damn it! / For crying out loud!
- Greek έλα ρε Come on! / No way! / You're kidding — disbelief, protest, or delight depending on tone.
- Italian Minchia! Holy shit! / Wow! / Damn!
- Japanese やばい Insane / crazy / no way — good OR bad, from context
- Korean 헐 Whoa / no way / I can't even — the all-purpose stunned noise.
- Polish masakra A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'
- Portuguese Caramba! Wow! / Geez! / Holy cow!
- Russian Офигеть! Wow! / Holy cow! / No way!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.