[Vocabulary] "..., people!" and "Oh, man! ..."

[inase]

Hello,

Americans say "Listen (up), people!" to get attention and "Oh, man! I made a mistake again." to express anger.

I wonder if there is an interchangeable British English word for "people" and "man" in this context.

My guess is they are "Listen up, gentlemen!" and "Oh, my! I made a mistake again."

Inase

 

[andrewg927]

I would more likely use "holy s**t" to express surprise than anger.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can't imagine a situation in which I would say "Listen up, gentlemen!" or, for that matter "Listen up, ladies!" If I wanted to get the attention of a group of people, I'd probably shout "Quiet, please, everyone!", "Thank you, thank you!" or tap a glass with a metal object or whistle loudly. If I had to use your phrase, it would be "Listen up, everyone!"

"Oh my!" is very outdated. If I'd repeated a mistake, depending on the level of the mistake, I'd say "Damn/B*gger/Sh*t/Cr*p/F*ck, I've done it again".

 

[Skrej]

I disagree that 'Oh, man' is used exclusively for anger. It can be used for other emotions as well - disappointment, surprise, excitement, amazement, and others. It just depends on your intonation.

"Listen up, people/men/gals/ladies/folks/guys/students/class/etc." would more likely be used by somebody of authority or who is in charge of a situation. If you're using it, you're being a bit informal or blunt. I'm prone to using it when dealing with groups of teenagers, but I have also used it with my adult students after a couple of unsuccessful politer requests for attention.

 

[Tdol]

"Listen up, guvnor!"

This sounds like Dick Van Dyke trying to sound Cockney to me. ;-)

 

[inase]

"Damn, I should have known better!"

And "Thank you, thank you!"

All your comments helped me become confident with the right phrases and behavior when we face such situations. The discussions like this may also be very useful for English learners in general. I suggest that these should be analyzed and stored in a cognitive/AI system to supplement the areas which traditional dictionaries have failed to cover as easily-searchable and context-rich entries.

 

[Tdol]

I am sure someone is working on that. In the meantime, we have people discussing things online. :up: