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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33686
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

One option you may want to keep in mind is that [**_ooh_**](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ooh) or _ooh and aah_ can actually be used as a verb, in place of writing out "ooooo" as dialog. Something like _"Ooooo!" say said with awe_ can be replaced with something like

> They **oohed** in awe/wonder.

or, of course,

> They **oohed and aahed** (at the wondrous sight).

As a bare sentence this sounds a bit primitive, but depending on context it can be less jarring than spelling out the interjection, and also cleanly conveys a sense that some people may have said "wow" while others used "ooo" (with varying numbers of Os and exclamation marks) or some other exclamation.

If you have other dialog for your character to say, _oohed_ can even be its own dialog descriptor. For example:

> [H]e still remembers hitting poor Jasper Moss in the face with a baseball, Jasper distracted by an airplane, "An L 10–11," **he oohed** right before the ball smacked his nose . . . .  
> —[David Gilbbert, _The Normals: A Novel_](https://books.google.com/books?id=tqFO3YO9ECAC&lpg=PA42&dq=%22he%20oohed%22&pg=PA42#v=onepage&q=%22he%20oohed%22&f=false)
> 
> Bacharach, clutching his first Oscar, alleged he was overwhelmed. "_Two_ of them, it's fantastic," **he oohed** , and added: "I'll put them on the breakfast table" . . . .  
> —[_Films in Review_ Vol. 21, snippet view](https://books.google.com/books?id=wRELAQAAMAAJ&q=%22he%20oohed%22&dq=%22he%20oohed%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEtfew2LfZAhVDQ6wKHdouBoI4MhDoAQhKMAc)

Just **_don't_** combine an interjection with the _oohed_ tag:

> \*"Wow!" they oohed.

Original score: 1