high doh
- noun
- Informal
:
gran alboroto
- There was a high doh when the CEO made his surprise announcement!
Examples
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His phone call threw the whole office into a high doh of anxiety.
-
The media created a high doh over the celebrity's breakup.
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After the car broke down on the highway, Jane found herself in a real high doh.
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When the fire alarm went off during the meeting, there was a high doh.
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When the fire alarm went off during the meeting, there was a high doh as everyone rushed to the exit.
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His phone call threw the whole office into a high doh of anxiety, with everyone trying to understand the sudden change.
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After the car broke down on the highway, Jane found herself in a real high doh as she tried to find help.
Synonyms
1
9.6
A noisy fuss about something unimportant
1
9.4
A noisy fuss that causes excitement and arguments
An awkward problem that causes a fuss
A time when you make a silly, obvious mistake
Antonyms
How Troubling
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense is partially inferable because 'high' is an intensifier and 'doh' signals an error/embarrassment, so a learner knowing both words could guess it refers to a serious mistake or big embarrassment. However, 'doh' is primarily an interjection and its conversion into a noun meaning 'a situation of great trouble' is a slangy, culture-specific extension that is not fully predictable to a B1 learner without exposure.
Etymology
High doh may come from the image of a loud doh — a short, shocked sound — turned very high, like a noise that makes people start a fuss. So, high doh means a big 'trouble' or 'commotion' that causes stress or panic.