Yikes is what you say out loud when something suddenly shocks you, scares you a little, or makes you think "oh no, that is bad". It is a whole sentence by itself, said with feeling: "Yikes!" Two things make it different from a hard word like "help".

Yikes is what you say out loud when something suddenly shocks you, scares you a littleYikes 是當某件事突然嚇到你、讓你有點害怕, or makes you think "oh no, that is bad"或讓你心想「糟了，這下不妙」時，脫口而出的話。It is a whole sentence by itself它自己就是一整句話, said with feeling: "Yikes!"帶著情緒說出來：「Yikes!」Two things make it different from a hard word like "help"有兩件事讓它跟「help」這種急迫的字不一樣。

First, it is light. You use it for the price of a repair, a huge exam score you did not get, a friend's terrible haircut, a spider on the wall — real fear uses other words.

First, it is light第一，它的語氣很輕。You use it for the price of a repair你會用在維修費很貴, a huge exam score you did not get考試分數很差, a friend's terrible haircut朋友剪了個很糟的髮型, a spider on the wall牆上有隻蜘蛛 — real fear uses other words真正的恐懼會用別的詞。

Second, it is friendly and slightly childish, so it is safe everywhere: children say it, teachers say it, it appears in comics and cartoons. It is much more American than British, though British speakers know it well.

Second, it is friendly and slightly childish第二，它聽起來友善又帶點孩子氣, so it is safe everywhere所以在任何場合都很安全: children say it, teachers say it小孩會說，老師也會說, it appears in comics and cartoons也出現在漫畫和卡通裡。It is much more American than British它比較是美式用法，不太是英式的, though British speakers know it well不過英式英文使用者也很熟悉這個詞。

Younger people online have stretched it in a newer way: writing "yikes" under someone's post means "that was an embarrassing thing to say and I am quietly judging you" — not fear at all, closer to a wince. You will also see it doubled for that meaning, "yikes yikes", or written as "big yikes".

Younger people online have stretched it in a newer way年輕人在網路上把這個詞用出了新的意思: writing "yikes" under someone's post means在別人的貼文底下打「yikes」的意思是「that was an embarrassing thing to say and I am quietly judging you」你剛剛那句話有點尷尬，我在默默評斷你 — not fear at all, closer to a wince完全不是害怕，比較接近一種皺眉的感覺。You will also see it doubled for that meaning這個意思下你也會看到它疊字, "yikes yikes", or written as "big yikes"像「yikes yikes」，或寫成「big yikes」。

Grammatically it stands alone; you cannot say "I yikes" or "very yikes" in careful English, although people do play with it on purpose online. It can start a sentence: "Yikes, is that the time?"

Grammatically it stands alone文法上它是獨立存在的: you cannot say "I yikes" or "very yikes" in careful English在正經的英文裡你不能說「I yikes」或「very yikes」, although people do play with it on purpose online不過網路上大家會故意這樣玩。It can start a sentence它可以放在句子開頭: "Yikes, is that the time?"像「Yikes, is that the time?」（哎呀，已經這個時間了？）