Turns out we’ve all been spelling the word ‘woah’ wrong

You learn something new every day.

If you were to text a friend in a surprised response or spell out the word ‘woah’, you’d probably use that version, right? Some people use ‘wow’ as an alternative but ‘woah’ is the most common.

Well, it turns out that’s not the right way to spell it at all.

A debate has been sparked online about the word and the folks behind the Merriam-Webster Dictionary even got involved. It all started when one Twitter account, ACLU National, used ‘Woah’ in a tweet and were quickly correctly.

Here is where the argument began.

@ACLU @DavidColeACLU I only say this because I love you, and I want the best for you: it’s “whoa.”

— Jonathan Coulton (@jonathancoulton) February 2, 2017

So they asked the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to weigh in on the topic.

@ACLU We don’t include that as a variant, but we’re pretty sure you still have the right to say it. https://t.co/5iJqqQFHpM

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 2, 2017

So there you have it they only list ‘whoa’ in their dictionary.

Whoa has two meanings, according to Merriam-Webster:

“1. A command (as to a draft animal) to stand still and

2:  cease or slow a course of action or a line of thought :  pause to consider or reconsider —often used to express a strong reaction (as alarm or astonishment)”