'Whoa' or 'Woah'?

“Whoa” can mean “stop,” like in this Keanu Reeves clip from “Sweet November,” or it can mean “wow,” like he often said in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”

It’s supposed to be spelled W-H-O-A, but I keep seeing it spelled W-O-A-H and hearing complaints from other people who see it spelled that way.

The Origin of ‘Whoa’

Here's a way to remember the proper spelling: “Who” and “ho” are two origins that are often cited for “whoa.” For example, Dictionary.com states that “ho” came first as a Middle English command to make a horse stop and then evolved sometime around 1620 into “whoa.” To remember how to spell “whoa,” remember that the original word—“ho,” something you'd say to a horse—stays intact in the middle of the word.

‘Whoa’ in Shakespeare

Also, in 1616 in the play "The Winter's Tale," William Shakespeare had a character known only as Shepherd call out "Whoa-ho-hoa!" Say it in your mind: “whoa-ho-hoa.” Say it loudly like Santa Claus: “whoa-ho-hoa!” The extra “ho”s after the “whoa” should also help you remember to keep the H-O, “ho,” in the middle.

The ‘Woah’ Spelling

And what about the other spelling that most editors would tell you is wrong?

I’ve seen multiple people argue that the two spellings mean different things. That what we consider the correct spelling is how you tell a horse to stop, and what we consider the wrong spelling is how you express wonderment, like “Wooooaaaahhh.”  And some people are definitely making a distinction that way, but it’s not the accepted way to write it yet. 

I’ve also seen multiple people comment that W-O-A-H looks like it should be pronounced “whoa-ah” since it looks like it should rhyme with “Noah,” and wow, did that ruin any chance of it having a different meaning for me! Now that I’ve seen it that way, I can’t unsee it.

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