Imagine you’re home alone and wake up late for work. You open your eyes, take one look at the time and immediately begin rushing around the house to get yourself ready to go. In your haste, you stub your toe on the bed post (we have all done it.) What word immediately comes out of your mouth? “Ouch!” But why? Nobody is home, so it’s not like you intended for anyone to hear it. You said it as a reaction, without even giving it much, if any thought at all. Words like “ouch” are considered expressive terms because they are uttered with the intended purpose of expressing feeling. Expressive terms vary from other words in many ways. Expressive terms such as ouch, and yum are unique from other words since they tend to stand alone and aren’t usually uttered as a means of communication with other individuals. While these specific words tend to be spoken out loud, their target audience is usually meant to be the speaker. Verbal communication entails conveying a message to other individuals typically, by stringing together a series of words to form a sentence. Sentences are a string of words that typically contain a subject and a predicate. Since expressive words do not seem to follow the same patterns as other words, I am going to explore some questions that I have about these terms. Some questions that I have are, who uses these terms; adults, children, both? When are these terms typically used, in formal, informal settings or both?  Who are the intended audiences, others, oneself, or both? I would also like to explore the origins of these words. I will consult the Oxford English Dictionary to determine the meaning of some specific expressive words. I will compare the use of expressives to the use of other types of words. I will also consult “The Meaning of Ouch and Oops” by David Kaplan to help uncover some answers.

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