The word "Oi" | Squat the Planet

The word "Oi"

chaosfactorxx

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Just wondering your thoughts on the word? I know kids that use it entirely too much and kids that fucking HATE it. Personally I use it, mostly because it gets kids attention and mostly because I'm just used to it at his point. I had a kid freak out at me screaming "my name's not fucking OI!" because i said to too him once to get his attention. I dunno. I'm just curious about people's opion I guess.
 
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bryanpaul

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nice.... kinda silly..kinda dumb.. but also a relevant thread........ yeah i guess it's just like any other "culturally exclusive"(?) word......on one hand it's like "oh god, these fuckin oogly crusttards wont stop OIing at me" but on the other handit kinda helps identify folks in our culture.... i dunno, i think it's kind of cool to have words and phrases that are sort of exclusive to us........ as much as the rainbow kid talk annoys me i think it's cool that folks have a verbal culture....and with the train riding community i think its cool to have words that can help let folks know that your "in the scene"... as much as i might crack jokes on "oi" and carharts and face tats and shit...when i see some travelin folk i'll say "oi....whats up"......it's nice to be a part of a scene/culture....... same with a rag on yer neck...it actually kinda sux tho..cuz wearin a rag seems to be pretty hip these days.... i'll see somebody witta backpack and bandana around their neck and be like "oh hey, you on the rails too dood?" and they look at me like im a idiot................................basically my dumb point is..... our culture is just that ...a culture... and as much as i like to poke fun at the crusty travelin kid stereotypes....it's nice to have our own terms and words and jokes and shit.... OI
 
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river dog

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its like manowar, you can have fun knowing the joke AND partaking in it. i say oi, it gets peoples attention and i like it. jargon is good
 

TBone

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I like using it going into a known jungle at night to put anyone that might be camped at ease knowing it's not a cop behind the light. It's not an issue with me either way.
 

Jimmy Beans

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I personally hate it. It takes me back to the early 90's Fifteen playing on stage, skinheads come in crackin bottles over some random peoples heads in the crowd startin fights like some douche bags. The music stops Jeff Ott says goodbye, they pack and leave 5 minutes into the set. The only thing I remember hearing out of the skinheads mouths was oi oi oi. That's what that stupid word means to me. It has it's ties to rascism and some of the shittiest memories I have as well. I at one point started playing an MMO that I will not go any further into cause it's embarassing but I will mention it was overflowing with Australians. They would always type this thing into world chat that I guess resembled the douche bag chant "USA USA USA" they'd chant "Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi" and that shit got on my nerves too. It's a dumb ass word, that's my take. But like Bryan said, say it all you want.. it helps us identify. I personally expect to see bottles weilded when I hear it so that's how you're seen in my eyes.. a dick, for lack of a better way to say it. Of course I'm not such an ass I'd generalize someone from past experiences to the point I wouldn't even give them a chance, but it does cause some anxiety at first... that's just me.
 

L.C.

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Like the engineer said, its a skinhead term. Punk and skinheads have been a love, hate relationship through the years. Weather we like it or not punk and skinhead culture are so far apart, but so close in other ways. Many times I've had blacks confuse punks with skinheads. I'm sure most of you have heard of "oi punk". Like others said its a part of the culture, and I personally no longer relate the word to skinheads.
 

40 Hands

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.it's nice to be a part of a scene/culture....... same with a rag on yer neck...it actually kinda sux tho..cuz wearin a rag seems to be pretty hip these days.... i'll see somebody witta backpack and bandana around their neck and be like "oh hey, you on the rails too dood?" and they look at me like im a idiot

Dunno but we call em skanks (bandannas) and ive seen it picking up popularity ever since crusties have been showin up in town more often. I was at the local ghetto shop the other day and some really urban chick was rockin a skank and told us how she picked it up from us. we were like its great from dodgin cops and gettin shot at huh?! lol only on the wrong side of town of course :p
 

slurricane

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scummy train kid lingo in general is pretty obnoxious. 'shwag' is the worst, but 'oi' is definitely up there, always has been always will be.
 

Vonuist

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It's basically what fag is to cigarette as oi is to hey or chips are to fries. Skins put a bad name on something else. Astonishing...

Exactly so.
Coming from a working class English background it's just a noise we use to get someone's attention.
It's quite a versatile word and I use it a lot, mainly when training my dog as I save the much more emphatic "No" for really serious occassions like sheep and traffic.

Until I read this thread I had no idea that it had such resonance in the US.

What a to-do.
 

bicycle

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i think oi is just english accent for hey or something like that
 

DaisyDoom

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No haha...I've only heard it in reference to weed. I'm not a train kid though lol. I've also only heard foreign people and my stupid old roommate say "Oi"...aside from songs that is.
 

bryanpaul

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\ havent you ever heard dumb oogie foogies screaming from the top of their lungs at their canine companions? 'SHWAG DOG SHWAG DOG BLAH BLAH BLAH FUCK BLAH SWAGGY SHWAG'..etc
hahaha....... "OI! boxcar, kick it dooown...shwaaag dooog!"
 
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river dog

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kick it down is one i havent heard since indy, coming from texas, schwag is definitly used solely for poor quality mexican ganja, and thats how it is...
 
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Earth

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I considered myself officially part of the Oi scene from say 1992 till the end of the decade...
Interesting thing, is during its prime - early 1980s - I considered myself more as a punk.

When I hear the word Oi today, I think of Blitz, The Business, Cockney Rejects, etc.........
It's a U.K. thing, which some in the states here got it right .
Its also something that I've always felt an afinity for.

Still remember being in the airport in London back in '81, enroute from W.Berlin back to N.Y.C.
I had on my Never Mind The Bollucks... shirt on (which I bought in Woolworths !!) and the Bobbies made no loss of time giving me a real hard time about that - and I was 16, living it.............

The word Oi brings me back to an era that I was proud to be a part of.
Good Times, People, and Bier !!
 

CXR1037

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When I heard OI, I typically just keep walking because it's usually some punxxx as fock, "I BEEN RIDIN' TRAINS FIR FI'TTY YEARS, BROTHER!", types. I hate those people and want nothing to do with them.
 

bryanpaul

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I hate those people and want nothing to do with them.
when i see snooty fuck tards i usually walk the other way............ rest of rant deleted
 

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