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あら as in the expression of surprise like "oh my".

FluffyBeing
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  • You may always use "oro" ;-) – LAFK says Reinstate Monica Dec 07 '13 at 19:07
  • @LIttleAncientForestKami: My dictionary does not have it, do you have any link? Or is it a joke I have failed to understand? – Nicolas Raoul Dec 09 '13 at 06:54
  • I do have the links, though I'm not surprised you don't have it in the dictionary. :-) It's quite famous in some circles due to Rurouni Kenshin character, which uses it quite often. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himura_Kenshin (search for 'oro') or a fan discussion about it with screencap from DVD http://www.animenfo.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=475. I recall reading it was coined by Watsuki to be a male-version of 'ara' but this link I can't find now. So, summarizing, you weren't off the mark with this being a joke. ;-) – LAFK says Reinstate Monica Dec 13 '13 at 22:53

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While more females might use it than males, it is certainly NOT a female-only expression by any means. I am a male native speaker and I say あら and あらっ all the time and so do many other males around me.

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    I just have a follow up question: I noticed that I can add more "ら”'s to emphasize my surprise like "あらら” to indicate more surprise. I'm just wondering up to how many "ら"'s is it reasonable to add? For example can I use "あららららら” to indicate my emotion without sounding silly? – FluffyBeing Dec 08 '13 at 23:49
  • @Tokyo Would あらら be a version of あら, or would it be a completely different word? http://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/1207/264 – Pacerier Dec 16 '13 at 00:44