D'oh!
"D'oh!" is the comical catch phrase of Homer Simpson, from the long-running animated series The Simpsons. Famously accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary, it is typically used when Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened to him. On certain occasions other characters use the phrase, the most common being Bart.
Origin
The cry of "D'oh!" is typically represented in the show's script as "annoyed grunt", and is so referred to in the official titles of numerous episodes. When Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer, was first asked to voice the exclamation he rendered it as a drawn out "dooh", inspired by Jimmy Finlayson, the moustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films (as well as 19 films with Laurel and 5 with Hardy before they paired up). Finlayson made the term his own, using it as as a way of suggesting the word "Damn!" without actually saying it. The show's creator Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster so Castellaneta shortened it to "D'oh!" [1]
Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, the radio show ITMA and Peter Glaze on the children's television show Crackerjack also used forms of "D'oh," as cries of pain or frustration. Glaze's rendition in particular is eerily prescient of the Simpsons version.
One interpretation claims that Homer simply uses D'oh! as a minced oath for "Damn". This last interpretation is supported by Castellaneta himself. On the other hand, many people think "D'oh!" is related to the expression "D'uh" uttered by the none-too-bright character of Moose in Archie Comics. "D'uh" originated as a mean-spirited attempt to imitate some mentally deficient individuals whose speech can resemble "D'uh." The correct pronunciation of "D'uh"—unlike "D'oh"—uses two syllables: first a plosive D syllable that stops abruptly as the tongue slides down off the upper front teeth, and then a prolonged uhhhh sound while exhaling.
When Homer swallows numerous hot peppers in the episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer" he experiences a vision. In that vision, he must follow a slow moving turtle. Homer, who is impatient, pounds the ground with his fist in anger spelling "D'oh" in the dust cloud (which confirms the correct spelling of the phrase). Also, when Homer has his jaw wired shut in the episode "Jaws Wired Shut", he is reduced to communicating with others by writing on a blackboard, including going so far as to write "D'oh" (he even flinches as he displays it, as if he were actually saying it). And in Lisa's Sax, Homer drops Lisa's saxophone and yells "D'oh!", and it is inscribed on the saxophone.
Many people in Homer's life (including Marge Simpson, Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson, Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Krusty the Clown, Herb Powell, Abraham Simpson, Mona Simpson, and even one-time neighbor the late Former President Gerald Ford) are heard using the exclamation. Marge's "D'oh!" is usually distinctively longer and trails-off, in opposition to the usually curt exclamations of her husband, Homer.
It was first heard on a Tracey Ullman Show short entitled "The Krusty the Clown Show," on January 15, 1989. The segment ends with Krusty throttling Bart in anger, while Marge and Homer watch TV. Homer's reaction: "D'oh!" The next occasion it was heard was in December of that year on the Fox network, when the first stand-alone episode showed Homer, dressed up as Santa Claus, bumping his head then exclaiming "Ho-ho-d'oh!". [1]
Variations
Variations of the catch phrase have appeared in some episodes of The Simpsons.
- In "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (1989), when being a fake Santa Claus, after Homer bumps his head he says, "Ho-ho-d'oh!"
- In "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" (1993), 32 consecutive "D'oh!"s (with some repeated) can be seen in a montage of flashbacks.
- In "Burns' Heir", (1994), Mr. Burns decides to make Bart his heir and tries to convince Bart that his family doesn't want him anymore. He allows Bart to watch his "family", actually actors hired by Burns, on closed-circuit television. The Homer impersonator (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Michael Caine) drops his sandwich and exclaims "b'oh!" Bart comments that something about his family doesn't seem quite right. At this, Burns switches off the monitor, scurries onto the set and tells the actor "Homer Simpson doesn't say 'B'oh', he says...(looks through script)...'D'oh'!"; when "Homer" tries again, he says it nearly correctly (Duh-oh), if unconvincingly.
- In "Bart of Darkness" (1994), while talking to an apparently Amish man, Homer expresses his frustration over building a barn instead of a pool. The Amish man tells him, "'Tis a fine barn, but sure 'tis no pool, English." Homer responds with a "D'oheth!"
- In "Bart Gets an Elephant" (1994), when forced to clean the Simpson home, Homer tries to duck out quickly by volunteering to clean the basement. When everybody agrees without hesitation, Homer exclaims "D'oooh?" (stretched out and with a rising inflection, as if he is asking a question). When he opens the basement door, he exclaims a normal "D'oh!" when he sees what a mess the basement is.
- Also in "Bart Gets an Elephant", when Homer crashes their car into a preserved deer statue, he, Lisa, and Marge say, in sequence, "D'oh!" (doe), "A deer!", "A female deer!", an allusion to the "Do-Re-Mi" song in "The Sound of Music".
- In "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" (1999), on a family trip to Japan, Homer said something in Japanese along the lines of "shimatta-baka-ni," which was translated in subtitles as "D'oh!" Shimatta in Japanese is roughly equivalent to "damn it!", whereas Baka ni is, by Japanese grammar, more literally taken as an adverb (pointed out by the particle ni after a na adjective radical), meaning "stupidly", with the root word baka being used traditionally to describe an idiotic or foolish person or thing. (Japanese speakers normally use baka in relation to silly animals or inanimate things; it is considered extremely rude when used in reference to humans.)
- In "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2" (2006), Homer asks Marge if "the boom has been lowered" in a low voice. When she responds negatively, Homer whispers in a very rough voice "D'oooooooooh" that sounded exactly the same as his normal grunt, just longer.
Episode names
When originally created, the word didn't have an official spelling. Instead, it is written as "annoyed grunt". In recognition of this, several episodes feature the phrase "annoyed grunt" in the episode title where one would expect the term "d'oh". Such episodes include "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" (instead of "I, D'oh-bot", a play on I, Robot), "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" (a parody of the song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in Mary Poppins), "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" (a parody of Old MacDonald Had a Farm), and "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)" (a parody of G.I. Joe). Even in Closed Captioning of the show in early airings showed [annoyed grunt] in place of where 'D'oh!' is heard.
However, "d'oh" is always uttered in the show's promos that are run by Fox.
Four episodes so far have "d'oh" in their titles (all in later seasons): season 10's "D'oh-in' in the Wind," season 11's "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses," season 14's "C.E. D'oh," and season 17's "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere".
Usage
The term d'oh! has been adopted by many Simpsons fans. The term has become commonplace in modern speech and demonstrates the reach of the show's influence. "D'oh" has been added to the Webster's Millennium Dictionary of English, the Macmillan Dictionary for Advanced Learners and the Oxford English Dictionary. It is defined as: "expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish. Also (usu. mildly derogatory), implying that another person has said or done something foolish (cf. DUH int.)." The OED etymologizes the word as "popularized by" The Simpsons, but lists usages as early as 1945. It is also now becoming a popular minced oath for many various curse words, especially Damn.
In the German-dubbed version, d'oh! is translated to Nein! (No! - pronounced like the number 9). In the Spanish-dubbed version, d'oh! is changed to ¡Ou! (pronounced like the letter O). The pronunciation, with the proper Homer-like intonation, has entered as well in the popular culture of many Spanish-speaking countries. The closed captions for the program (at least in the U.S.), spell D'oh as D-ohh!. In Italy, the parts where Homer utters the word are left unedited, thus still bearing Castellaneta's voice.
The Arrested Development episode "Sword of Destiny" references Castellaneta's role as the voice of Homer in a way typical of that series' subversive humor: his character (Dr. Stein) utters the word "D'oh", but in about as flat and un-Homerlike a delivery as can be imagined.
After being popularized by The Simpsons, the expression has been used widely in computer and video games as well as other media.
20th Century Fox has filed for a trademark for "the spoken word 'D'OH'" [1].
Notes
- ^ a b "What's the story with . . . Homer's D'oh!", The Herald, Glasgow, p. 15, July 21, 2007, retrieved 2007-07-22
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See also
External links
- The definitive "D'oh" list
- Homer Simpson says "D'oh!" 32 times (WAV sound file)
- D'oh! joins the Oxford English Dictionary - BBC News
