First recorded in 1975–80; of disputed origin
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The group, according to Burke, spontaneously began chanting an exuberant Australian cheer: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
"The hardest thing was sculpting his hair. Holy shmoly! Oi yoi yoi!" he exclaims.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
With Japan's own currency trading at a low, Tokyo is paying attention to the British pound, writes Mariko Oi.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2022
A man leaves the office of Brazilian telecoms company Oi SA in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 22, 2017.
From Reuters ● Aug. 19, 2022
“Yeh think Oi dan’t know a candle or a campfire when I see one? Et was blue, Oi tell ye. Greet billows o’ et,” he made an expansive gesture with his arms.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Most of these fall in the same trope of emphasizing those with OI as fragile china dolls, even if they don’t have the short stature and other physical attributes commonly associated with OI.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2025
In TLC’s furthering of awareness on OI, the series introduces Jay Manuel and Pamela Chavez by highlighting their upbeat, can-do attitude butting up against the harsh realities of society and their own medical limitations.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2025
OI believes it can reduce the numbers still further.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2024
If you meet kids with OI, they're usually sweet and funny and so much more than the sum of their disability, which is probably, the biggest lesson that Willow can give us as a character.
From Time Magazine Archive
Again in IO or OI premisses there is only one term distributed, namely, the predicate of the O proposition.
From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph
The group, according to Burke, spontaneously began chanting an exuberant Australian cheer: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
It depicted three eggs being thrown, with a shout of "oi" as one hit its target.
From BBC ● May 26, 2022
The woman is currently in isolation oi the Female Isolation Unit.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2020
Chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi oi oi,” rang out several times from the crowd of nearly 1,000 following the Australians around Metropolitan on Saturday.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 24, 2018
"These threats are unseemly, and I'll hear no more oi them. Is this how you behave at the twins, Walder Frey?"
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
