ho
part of speech
interjection (ho, ho ho); noun (a ho — rude slang)
meaning for a pupil
1) A shout to get attention or to show surprise: «Land ho!» means «land ahead!». tree →
2) «Ho ho ho!» is the laugh of Father Christmas (Santa). tree →
3) (rude, slang) A very rude, insulting word for a woman, taken from «whore»; never use it. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories sailors shout «Land ho!» when they see land, and Santa laughs «Ho ho ho!». «Westward ho!» means «go west!». The rude slang meaning is offensive and may be heard in songs or films; it is not acceptable at school. Phrases: «Land ho!», «Ho ho ho», «Westward ho!».
examples
- «Land ho!» shouted the sailor from the mast. tree →
- «Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!» laughed Santa. tree →
- Westward Ho! is a village in Devon. tree →
- «Ho there!» called the guard. tree →
- That word in the song is a rude insult, so we don't say it. tree →
note
Not to be confused with «hoe» (a garden tool). The rude slang meaning is a slur; avoid it. Also not the Mandarin «hé».
In the corpora
- Ho, thy plagues, O death!
- Ho, thy destruction, O nether-world!
- Ho, Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.'
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «ho» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.