Hebrew word of the day · Street Hebrew and slang
יואוyo'u
whoa, jeez
In a sentence
יואו, אֵיזֶה חֹם הַיּוֹם
yo'u, eize khom hayom
Jeez, it's so hot today
The mistake English speakers make
Israelis never end the sentence with יוֹאוּ. It opens it.
יוֹאוּ
(yo'u, whoa, jeez) The sound before the sentence, said with the face you already have on.
✗The end of the sentence
אֵיזֶה חֹם הַיּוֹם, יוֹאוּ (eize khom hayom, yo'u) An Israeli hears a reaction that showed up late.
✓The front of the sentence
יוֹאוּ, אֵיזֶה חֹם הַיּוֹם (yo'u, eize khom hayom, Jeez, it's so hot today)
Why
The sound comes out of you before the words do, so it opens the sentence.
One more, at the till
יוֹאוּ, אֵיזֶה יָקָר (yo'u, eize yakar, Jeez, that's expensive)
Say it tonight
Walk into a cold room and say: יוֹאוּ, אֵיזֶה קַר פֹּה (yo'u, eize kar po, Jeez, it's freezing here)
Your turn
Heat, traffic, prices, the bill. What made you say it today?
Today's Hebrew challenge
Hebrew challenge #23
אֵין עָלֶיךָ
ein alekha
What does it mean?
- AThere's nothing on you
- BYou're the best
- CI couldn't reach you by phone
The answer
BLiterally there is none upon you, but Israelis say it when someone comes through for them.
Published 6 October 2026 by the Israeli Hebrew Institute. Every word, sentence and vowel point on this page was checked by a native Israeli teacher.