In Filipino, when two people are teased together the teaser (usually a mob of friends) would scream: "Uieeee!" Pronounced: 'Uyyyy' with the 'y' prolonged for a few seconds, as if coaxing the two lovebirds together.
Sample DialogueMaria: Did you go on a date with Clara last night? 🙂
Juan: It wasn't a date; we were just having di—
Maria pokes Juan repeatedly while saying:
Maria: Uieeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 🙂
The only other language that I know of to have an exact equivalent is Bisaya, another Philippine language. It's said as "ayeee", a shrill sound from the syllable 'a' with a high note then 'yeeeeee' a few notes higher and finally the remaining 'eee' descending into silence.
"Ayeee" in English seems to be used very differently and I doubt that it sounds the same too. The closest equivalent I could find is aww, but it lacks the outward emotion of teasing. (Or am I wrong?)
Is there an equivalent English exclamation for teasing?
Best Answer
Based on my own experience, I can report that an extended "ooooo" sound is used in this way.¹
It is used in other ways, too, but in most cases it is an expression of mild mocking, as if the person making the noise is pretending to be scandalized by the possibility of the two people being together in one way or another.
There's a tone of excitement, but also maybe some judgement. A lot of all of this will depend on context, including the relationship of the speaker to the person or people being teased, audience present, tone, and facial expression. Excitement might be indicated by a shorter sound with raised pitch in the middle, while mock shock might be expressed with a longer "oooo" that either goes up in pitch at the end or builds steadily higher throughout. This last possibility can be generalized to any time someone is suggesting that someone has been "found out" whether they are being discovered to be an "item" or misbehaved in some mild way.
Physical gestures that might accompany this sound include nudging, eyebrow raises, etc.
Children might do this sort of teasing with the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song, and adults might also just to be silly.
1. I attempted to substantiate this part of my answer with website references, but online search for "ooo", "teasing", and/or "couple" has proven to be quite the NSFW minefield and I am currently at work.