olé

Meaning

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oler

(transitive) to smell (perceive by scent)
(transitive) to pry into, investigate (make inquiries where one is not welcome)
(transitive) to smell out, uncover (find out by prying)
(intransitive) to smell (emit an odour)
(reflexive) to suspect, have a hunch
inhale

Hyphenated as

o‧lé

Pronounced as (IPA)

/oˈle/

Unknown. Often supposed to be from Arabic الله (allāh, “God!”), used e.g. to express surprise, excitement, etc., and/or from related وَاللهِ (wa-llāhi, “by God!”), used as an oath or strong agreement. The Spanish Arabist Federico Corriente, however, counted the terms among the “falsos arabismos” (false Arabisms) in his work Diccionario de Arabismos y Voces Afines en Iberorromance. The counterargument is mainly phonetic, Arabic الله (allāh) being generally pronounced with a dark L and back vowels ([ɑlˤˈlˤɑːh]), which makes the Spanish /e/ problematic. Note, however, that the pronunciation becomes clear and front when /i/ precedes (e.g. لله [lɪlˈlæːh]). Perhaps this front articulation was generalized in (parts of) Andalusian Arabic.