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Big Day For A Little Word - 'Meh' Is Added To The Dictionary

chicagotribune.com — The origins of "meh" are murky, but the term grew in popularity after being used in a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer suggests a day trip to his children Bart and Lisa.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 17, 2008

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  • a117, on 11/17/2008, -19/+1323Meh.
  • nahsrocketeer75, on 11/17/2008, -8/+571My wife expressed outrage over this when she heard it on the TV news this morning, calling the word nothing but "a grunt." My reaction to her reaction? You guessed it.
  • DickyT83, on 11/17/2008, -12/+572You told her to get back in the kitchen?
  • Trekhawk, on 11/17/2008, -6/+281Simpsons did it!
  • Shojikoto, on 11/17/2008, -12/+264I'm not gonna lie, this makes me happy since i say "meh" all the time
  • MalarkeyPN, on 11/17/2008, -5/+210I find this article to be dull and unoriginal, scarcely worthy of comment.
  • MJDub, on 11/17/2008, -4/+185That's what she said.
  • acegi, on 11/17/2008, -2/+155that was fast.
  • SoyJames, on 11/17/2008, -3/+144Wait, how'd we end up with the same wife?
  • boozinf, on 11/17/2008, -0/+123"You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel."
  • slapded, on 11/17/2008, -23/+140'haz' is next
  • BugsSport, on 11/17/2008, -1/+90I saw the headline on the front page, made a bet with myself that the first comment was going to be "Meh," and gave myself a pat on the back when I saw this. Thank you
  • troub, on 11/17/2008, -0/+86I prefer Burns' phone greeting, "Ahoy hoy!"

    I read somewhere that "Ahoy" was actually what Alexander Graham Bell expected to become the traditional telephone-answering phrase.
  • ChaSchva, on 11/17/2008, -0/+85Examples given by the dictionary include "the Canadian election was so meh."

    Glorious!
  • chaseacej, on 11/17/2008, -4/+87Right after he said "meh I've had better"
  • houndeyex, on 11/17/2008, -4/+86While you played Battleship?
    http://www.appletreeblog.com/wp-content/2008/02/se ...
  • richgustavson, on 11/17/2008, -11/+84I see what you did there.
  • troub, on 11/17/2008, -0/+73It's a perfectly cromulent word.
  • craighoxton, on 11/17/2008, -1/+68How about when Homer answers the phone with "Yello"
  • paperclipsNsoup, on 11/17/2008, -3/+66I for one, am forgainst it
  • sephiroth965, on 11/17/2008, -1/+60wooosh
  • mandarin, on 11/17/2008, -0/+55is Doh! considered a word yet?
  • Brododium, on 11/17/2008, -0/+55I've only had the opportunity to use that once, it was the proudest day of my life until the person on the other end didn't get the reference.
  • ziromix, on 11/17/2008, -2/+55are you serious? does that mean kids in school will be able to write " my weekend was meh "
  • DiggzDE, on 11/17/2008, -1/+53Meh.
  • ultraseamus, on 11/17/2008, -1/+51Thing is, "Meh" does a pretty good job at communicating a particular feeling toward a subject. The closet thing I can think of in meaning would be "do not care", but saying that would come off as blunt. And, along with sounding harsh, would carry with it the implication that you are very uninterested, while "meh" is much more casual and does not imply strong feelings in any way. And for people saying that next up is haz or lolz, neither of those serve a particular function beyond adding goofiness to whatever you say. And ironically, if they became real, globally accepted words the intended effect would be lost.

    All of that being said I do not see much of a point in adding "meh" to the dictionary, but also do not see any harm in it, besides giving younger generations a leg up in scrabble, and to be honest I could use every advantage I can get.
  • DephexTwin, on 11/17/2008, -1/+49I read that, and I actually felt that it wasn't a very good example of the usage at all. Maybe they say that in Canada, but according to my intuition, usually things can't be *so* meh. They are just "meh"... because meh means it isn't *so* anything.

    But that's just my interpretation.
  • DigTheDoug, on 11/17/2008, -0/+46They talk about that during the commentary for that episode actually. He wanted "Ahoy" to be the greeting and "Ahoy hoy" to be the response.
  • Gnarstache, on 11/17/2008, -2/+46i really hope 'omgwtfbbq' is NEVER promoted to the dictionary
  • darlingt, on 11/17/2008, -3/+46I'd prefer if "frenemy" was chosen, but meh. Whatever.
  • scoottie, on 11/17/2008, -2/+45one small step for meh, one giant leap for mehkind
  • habbofresh, on 11/17/2008, -4/+44FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
    *****
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 11/17/2008, -0/+40I believe it was added several years ago.
  • hhmmmm, on 11/18/2008, -2/+41I find it shallow and pedantic
  • daimposter, on 11/17/2008, -0/+38i dugg you up....so you better not be lying!
  • worldofhiglet, on 11/17/2008, -1/+39This is the way the language was supposed to be - growing, expanding - a living, breathing entity full of wonder and meaning. Yeh or meh?
  • MtheoryX, on 11/18/2008, -2/+39holy *****!

    well played, sir!
  • BN89, on 11/17/2008, -5/+41One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
  • daimposter, on 11/17/2008, -0/+35from Merriam Webster:

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doh


    Main Entry:
    d'oh
    Variant(s):
    or doh ˈdō
    Function:
    interjection
    Date:
    1993

    —used to express sudden recognition of a foolish blunder or an ironic turn of events
  • digggggggggg, on 11/17/2008, -0/+34You know what? I don't know how I managed to express apathy before the advent of "meh".
  • Midgetmunky13, on 11/18/2008, -0/+33Hmm, yes, shallow and pedantic.
  • ferinex, on 11/17/2008, -3/+35Same.
  • digggggggggg, on 11/17/2008, -4/+35Is she one of those people who thinks that English should be set in stone, and that everyone should have proper diction and grammar?

    Well, bad news for her. Language is a living thing that changes with the speakers of it. That's the way the dictionary publishers see it, so that's the way it is.
  • williamlee, on 11/17/2008, -3/+34Meh.
  • jpmoney03, on 11/17/2008, -1/+32it wouldn't be as a word since that is an acronym for "Oh my god what the ***** barbecue."
  • ayeroxor, on 11/17/2008, -1/+31dont haz a hart atak.
  • DiggzDE, on 11/17/2008, -1/+30Physically abusing women is so 1950's. Get with the times man. Now men only psychologically abuse them.
  • Jones82, on 11/18/2008, -0/+29I'm sure there's lots of words in the dictionary that aren't appropriate for school papers
  • crazycrazypete, on 11/17/2008, -6/+34Meh.
  • ayeroxor, on 11/17/2008, -1/+29Get outta here, old-timer.
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