[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/wah/)

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# 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wah/#m1)

### 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wah/#x1)
- 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wah/#x2)
- “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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wah/#x3)

### Note

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

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «wah» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wah/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«wah» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/wah.html) on Mova free.