Opa (expression)

"Opa" exclaimed by a waiter in a Greek restaurant in Chicago while lighting saganaki on fire

Opa (Greek: ώπα) is a common Mediterranean, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian, South American, Central American, and Jewish emotional expression. It is frequently used during celebrations such as weddings or traditional dancing. In Greek culture, the expression sometimes accompanies the act of plate smashing. It can also be used to express enthusiasm, shock or surprise, or just after having made a mistake.

Opa is also used in many European countries such as Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Bulgaria, Belarus, Estonia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Armenia, Assyria, and Georgia as well as many Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, North African countries like Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, and the Sahrawi Republic as well as South Asian countries like Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal as an expression of shock and surprise, or in their traditional folk dances. In Jewish culture, it is pronounced as "hopa" (Hebrew: הופה) and it is used for mazel tov. Arabs sometimes pronounce it as "obah" (in Arabic, due to the absence of the letter "p" in classical Arabic), and especially use the expression when picking up or playing with children.

Opa also appears in Brazil, Portugal, and Cape Verde. A less common variation is "epa". This last variation is common in Argentina, specially when someone, more often a child, slips or falls. In Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela, opa is used to warn someone of an unnoticed danger. Besides being used as an emotional expression, opa (or epa) can also be used as a way of getting someone's attention (similar to "Hey!" in English). In Romanian (hopa) and Russian culture (опа) it is used during the short phase of concentration on an action (similar to "come on" in English), the expectation of successful process during the action and the subsequent completion of it, for example, when throwing a basketball into the basket, getting off the bike, or picking up a child.

The equivalent Kalmyk expression is khädris (Oirat: хәдрис), a shortened form of khädris avad od (Oirat: хәдрис авад од, [xæˈdris ˌavadˈot]), literally meaning "come and take it".

External links

• The dictionary definition of ώπα at Wiktionary