Meanings
alternative oo-la-la
- A reply implying pretentiousness; often in response to another person's use of a big word, especially a loanword that English got from French.
Oh, they were serving croque-monsieurs, now were they? Ooh la la.
- An exclamation of surprise, sometimes with strong sexual connotations.
Ooh la la, monsieur, you do have big muscles after all.
2 more examples
Well, what are we gonna tell your mama? / What are we gonna tell your pa? / What are we gonna tell our friends / When they say, "Ooh la la!"
1957, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, “Wake Up Little Susie”, performed by The Everly BrothersAnd when the British respond to a risqué joke with ‘ooh la la’ there’s a sauciness implied that just isn’t there in the original French words, risqué meaning ‘risked’ (a verb, not an adjective) and oh là là a great many things from ‘wow’ to ‘oh dear’, none of them very sexy.
2016 October 13, Matthew Anderson, “The foreign words that seem like English – but aren’t”, in BBC, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2020
Origin
- Frenchoh là là
- Englishooh la la
French oh là là / ouh là là, an exclamation of surprise, concern, or dismay. The French exclamation lacks the connotations of the English, either of snobbery or raciness; these emerged in English owing to stereotypes about the French.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ooh la la
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ooh la la. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ooh%20la%20la
“ooh la la.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ooh%20la%20la. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ooh la la,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ooh%20la%20la.
Source: ooh la la on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.