Meh!

Someone asked me a few weeks ago when to expect to see "meh" in dictionaries. Soon, according to AP. Oddly, the UK imprint Collins is the first real dictionary (as opposed to urbandictionary) to seize on this word, though "meh" is American -- Simpsonian, to be exact.

(Thanks to Mike Brower for forwarding the news.)

Comments

Hi,

Forgive my lack of Simpsonian depth, but does the addition of "meh" mean that Homer's "doh" is already in the dictionary?

Thanks for all the fun.
I just added your blog to my Google Blog List.

Cheri Block Sabraw

P.S. I hope the Obamas choose a yellow Lab as the First Dog. I have a 16 month old pup who has redefined "energy" for me.

Posted by Cheri Block Sabraw | November 17, 2008 11:40 AM

I always liked MAD Magazine's "Blecch", which The Simpsons have subsequently referenced. But I don't supose that is in any dictionary.

Posted by Nicholas Waller | November 18, 2008 7:36 AM

Okay, I saw that Simpsons episode and I knew the word before Lisa Simpson crystallized it: "Meh. M-E-H." Don't get me wrong. I love the contributions of the Simpsons to modern culture, but I'd have to say that crommulent (sp?) is a much more original offering.

Posted by Jenny | November 18, 2008 11:31 AM

My Yiddish-speaking relations and friends all employed "meh"--and the, related and more imperative "Feh!"--from as far back as my memory reaches (45+ years). The Simpsons may have popularized the word, but not coined it.

Posted by Andrew Dolson | November 19, 2008 4:52 PM

I don't begrudge the Simpsons their popularising of the term, but I strongly doubt they invented it... unless it was a pre-1995 episode, which is where my own internetting history begins, and i'm pretty sure i've seen it online, if nowhere else (surely its made it to print before?) long before anyone ever suggested it was "Simpsonian".

(hmm... oops, seem to have "bleeped" over Andrew's post at first. this should be taken as a backup to his rather than trying to shout over it)

Posted by tahrey | December 5, 2008 11:59 AM