ho

Word family

• whore
  nounC2
• heave-ho
  noun

Synonym discussion

Sense: exclamation/1

Hey, ah, yo, and oh are all exclamations, but they work differently from ho. Hey is the standard modern attention-getter — neutral, used in everyday speech ('Hey, wait for me!'). Ah expresses sudden realization or satisfaction, not a call to someone ('Ah, now I understand'). Yo is informal American slang for getting attention ('Yo, over here!') but sounds casual, not nautical. Oh conveys surprise or emotion ('Oh, I didn't see you there') but rarely functions as a distance call. Ho belongs almost entirely to historical or literary contexts — sailors calling 'Land ho!' or pirates singing 'Yo-ho-ho!' — and using it in daily conversation sounds theatrical. For everyday use, stick with hey or excuse me.

Common collocations

Etymology

The exclamation 'ho' enters English from Middle English (ho, hoo) as a command to stop, slow down, or attract attention — related to Old French 'ho!' and used since the 1300s in sailing and hunting. The insult sense is a clipping of 'whore' (from Old English hōre, meaning a sex worker), emerging in African American Vernacular English and hip-hop culture in the late 20th century.