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Meh

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For the Singlish word, see Singlish vocabulary. For other uses, see MEH (disambiguation).

Meh (/mɛ/) is a colloquial interjection used as an expression of indifference or boredom. It is often regarded as a verbal equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders. The use of the term "meh" shows that the speaker is apathetic, uninterested, or indifferent to the question or subject at hand. It is occasionally used as an adjective, meaning something is mediocre or unremarkable.[1]

Also considered a non-committal response, "meh" can be used when disregarding a question or to refer to something they have no opinion or emotions about. In expressing an opinion, it means the speaker's opinion is that of apathy. Some may respond with "meh" simply to avoid creating an opinion on the matter at all.[2]

Origin

The word may come from the Yiddish language. In Alexander Harkavy's Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary of 1898 and at least one later edition,[3] intended for the use of Yiddish-speakers, the English translation offered is merely a bleating or baa sound; by the much-developed 1928 edition, it is translated as an interjection meaning “be as it may”, or the adjective “so-so”.[4][5] It is more recently defined as "well then; expression of dismissal".[6] Hooray for Yiddish, by Leo Rosten uses the phonetic spelling "mnyeh", capturing its breathy, expressive enunciation by Yiddish-speakers.[7] This pronunciation is echoed by the poet W. H. Auden's use of "mneh", in a dismissive allusion to the Moon landing;[7][8] Auden was in New York before and after World War Two,[9] and developed a close interest in Jewish conversation and culture.[10][11]

All the above meanings suggest its close linkage with the Jewish shrug,[12][13][14] which is both a staple of acceptable humour among Jews,[15][16][17] and of anti-Semitic caricature.[18][19] Thus, as a Yiddish word adopted into (American) English, it stems from the interplay of Jews with Anglo-Saxon culture past and present,[20][21][22][23] an ambivalent expression of indifference, either good-humoured or contemptuous. Perhaps this accounts for its currency in the modern fast-changing multi-cultural world,[8][24] now the leading English verbal alternative for a (continental) shrug,[13][14][25][26][23] often directed toward something novel or foreign, newly fashionable, overly familiar or much-hyped.

Confusingly, some have speculated that the origin is in the Yiddish "feh",[7] which appears in the 1936 Yiddish song Yidl Mitn Fidl.

Popularization

As early as 1992, meh appeared in a Usenet posting in a discussion referring to the television series Melrose Place.[12]

Meh's popularity surged after its use on the American animated television series The Simpsons.[7][27] It was first used in the 1994 episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts",[7] when a librarian reacts to Lisa's surprise that voting records are not classified. It also appeared later in "Lisa's Wedding" after Marge weaves the words "Hi Bart" on a loom to try to pique her son's interest in weaving, to which he responds "meh". In the 2001 episode "Hungry, Hungry Homer", Lisa spells out the word for emphasis ("M-E-H"), after Homer tries to interest her (Lisa) and Bart into going to the theme park "Blockoland".[7] American lexicographer Benjamin Zimmer wrote in 2006, "Whatever Yiddish origins the interjection might have had, they have been lost in post-Simpsons usage."[28] Zimmer contacted Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder, who was responsible for "Hungry Hungry Homer", who said "I had originally heard the word from an advertising writer named Howie Krakow back in 1970 or 1971 who insisted it was the funniest word in the world."[7][29] Zimmer also contacted the writers of the other two episodes but they could not remember where they had heard the word.[7]

Lexicographer Grant Barrett wrote about meh and d'oh, another Simpsons catchphrase: "I suspect they're both just transcribed versions of oral speech, which has any number of single-syllable sounds that mean a variety of things".[12]

Even mainstream publications have adopted usage of meh. The word's first mainstream print usage occurred in Canadian newspaper the Edmonton Sun in 2003: "Ryan Opray got voted off Survivor. Meh".[30] In December 2009, meh was included in the BBC News Online list of 20 words which defined the decade.[31] On October 14, 2013, ABC News posted on their website under headlines: US Government Shuts Down, World Says, 'Meh'.[32] The New York Times's The One Page Magazine now features a "meh" list.[33]

Meh.com, a daily deals website from Woot founder Matt Rutledge, debuted on July 9, 2014.[34] Rutledge paid $100,000 for the meh.com domain in June 2014.[35]

Inclusion in dictionaries

In November 2008, the word was added to the Collins English Dictionary, a British publication published by HarperCollins.[1][36] Cormac McKeown, senior editor for Collins dictionaries, said:

"This is a new interjection from the US that seems to have inveigled its way into common speech over here."

"It was actually spelled out in The Simpsons when Homer is trying to pry the kids away from the TV with a suggestion for a day trip. They both just reply 'meh' and keep watching TV; he asks again and Lisa says 'We said MEH! M-E-H, meh?!'"

Sam Leith, writing in The Daily Telegraph, described the addition of the word, following suggestions received from the public, as a "gimmick", before concluding it was a "useful" word.[37]

In Canada

HarperCollins' definition of "meh" included a "real example" of usage:

"As in 'the Canadian election was so meh'."[38]

When complaints arose over this choice of example, HarperCollins' lexicographer Cormac McKeown, who chose the election reference, insisted that he meant "no slight to Canada".[38]

References

  1. ^ a b "Bothered much? 'Meh' is a word". Sky News. November 17, 2008. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
  2. ^ Taylor, Seth (January 14, 2013). "The Death of Meh". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  3. ^ "Harkavy's Dictionary". www.cs.uky.edu. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Zimmer, Ben (September 6, 2013). "A History of Meh, from Leo Rosten to Auden to The Simpsons". Slate Magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  5. ^ Nuwer, Rachel. "A 1928 Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary May Be the First Official Record of "Meh"". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "Yiddish dictionary lookup". www.cs.uky.edu. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Zimmer, Benjamin (September 6, 2013). "A History of Meh, from Leo Rosten to Auden to The Simpsons". Slate. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Oxford English Dictionary Inducts 'Meh' Into Its Pages". Haaretz. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  9. ^ Holford, Josie (January 26, 2019). "W. H. Auden and New York". Rattlebag and Rhubarb. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Roberts, Beth Ellen (2005). "W. H. Auden and the Jews". Journal of Modern Literature. 28 (3): 87–108. doi:10.2979/JML.2005.28.3.87. ISSN 0022-281X. JSTOR 25167528. S2CID 162250155.
  11. ^ "The Jewish Auden". Tablet Magazine. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c Bierma, Nathan (April 13, 2007). "'Meh' joins ranks of little words that do grunt work". Chicago Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  13. ^ a b "Meh Shrug GIFs". Tenor. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "A Word for the Gesture: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯". English Language & Usage Stack Exchange. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  15. ^ "50 best Jewish jokes | Jewish Care Interact". www.jewishcareinteract.org. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  16. ^ UCL (January 8, 2021). "IAS Laughter: A Jewish Joke". Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS). Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  17. ^ "What makes a Jewish joke Jewish". The Economist. November 11, 2017. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  18. ^ "Inscribed postcard of a shrugging Jewish man in a yellow hat - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  19. ^ Greschler, Gabriel (November 2, 2020). "Opponent's use of 'shrugging' image is antisemitic, Sacramento pol says". J. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  20. ^ "The Anglo-Saxons and the Jews". OUPblog. October 1, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  21. ^ Harris, Stephen J. (October 8, 2018). "1.Anglo-Saxons, Israelites, Hebrews, And Jews". Imagining the Jew in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Culture. University of Toronto Press. pp. 27–39. doi:10.3138/9781442666283-007. ISBN 978-1-4426-6628-3.
  22. ^ Stephens, Bret (October 27, 2020). "Opinion | Anti-Semitism and What Feeds It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  23. ^ a b Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem; Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (July 14, 2020). "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Where Is the Outrage Over Anti-Semitism in Sports and Hollywood?". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  24. ^ Philogos (July 22, 2020). "American English's Love Affair with the Yiddish Word "Meh". A brief history of an indifferent word". Mosaic.
  25. ^ "The Shrug Emoji Just Hit Unicode 9, So We Can All "Meh" At Our Leisure". Bustle. June 2, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  26. ^ "MEH - Indifference, equivalent to shoulder shrug in Internet Slang, SMS, Texting & Chat by AcronymsAndSlang.com". acronymsandslang.com. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  27. ^ "'Meh' - The Simpsons Make Word History". Simpsons Channel. November 19, 2008. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  28. ^ "'Meh? Fail? GOP Debate Elicits Words of Disappointment'". Visual Thesaurus. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  29. ^ "John Swartzwelder, Sage of "The Simpsons"". The New Yorker. May 2, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  30. ^ Barnes, Steve (May 5, 2007). "Meh...: A little word replaces the indifference of 'whatever' – like you care". Times Union. p. D1.
  31. ^ Dent, Susie (December 14, 2009). "Words: The final 20. In A portrait of the decade". BBC News. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  32. ^ Good, Chris (October 4, 2013). "Headlines: US Government Shuts Down, World Says, 'Meh'". ABC News. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  33. ^ Stalley, Willy (January 27, 2014). "Yes, We Believe That Pizza Is Meh". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  34. ^ "Woot founder launches meh.com, a Woot redux". Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  35. ^ "Matt Rutledge Buys MEH.com For $100K". DotWeekly.com.
  36. ^ Hoyle, Ben (November 17, 2008). "Looking for a word to describe how bored you are? Try meh". The Times. p. 21.
  37. ^ Leith, Sam (November 17, 2008). "'Meh' is more useful than 'weaselnose'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
  38. ^ a b Boswell, Randy (November 18, 2008). "Canadian politics: The definition of 'meh'". Canwest News Service. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
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