wah

interjection (also a noun in Uncle Remus)

«wah» in the English dictionary: Early Modern English — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Early Modern English

Meaning

In Kipling it is an exclamation of surprise; in Uncle Remus it is a dialect spelling of "war". tree →

Then and now

Today "wah" is not a normal English word; it is an exclamation in Kipling and a dialect spelling of "war" in Uncle Remus, where "fo' de wah" means "before the war".

Examples

"Dat ar jug's bin ter wah, mon. (Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings) tree →
In ole times, 'fo' de wah, I ain't heer tell er no seventy-fi'- year-ole nigger grapplin' wid no meezles. (Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings) tree →
“Wah!” said Little Toomai, “thou art a big elephant,” and he wagged his fluffy head, quoting his father. “The Government may pay for elephants, but they belong to us mahouts. (The Jungle Book) tree →

Note

Today: Wow! (for the exclamation); war (for the dialect noun).

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «wah» in the Early Modern English dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«wah» in the Early Modern English dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/wah/