Origins of Meh

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Is it specifically an ILX thing or what? I get what it means (this thread is meh), but where does it come from?? who's the originator?

― Mestema (davidcorp), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

I heard it long before I discovered ILX.

(Not that this necessarily means anything)

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:38 (twenty years ago)

It's been used on the Simpsons for years. First coined by Lisa, I think, but I can't remember what episode.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:43 (twenty years ago)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made-up_words_in_The_Simpsons#M

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:46 (twenty years ago)

WHAT???? Really?? Is it like 'may'? Lisa Simpson saying it doesn't sound right at all...

I'm not American, if this counts for anything.

― Mestema (davidcorp), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:46 (twenty years ago)

This here > http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/18815 < mentions a few Smpsons episodes but also says it was used on usenet in '92.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:47 (twenty years ago)

This is weird. I can't seem to say it out loud in any way that resembles anything like how I think it should be said. Think I gotta try find a wav file or something.

― Mestema (davidcorp), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

Cos bigoted Americans didn't want to say 'bof'. 'Meh' is Freedom-Bof.

Try shrugging while saying it, that might help

― beanz (beanz), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:53 (twenty years ago)

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/18815
This clears things up. Still doesn't sound right when I say it though, shrugging or not.

Meeuuurrr....

― Mestema (davidcorp), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

Hm. In my head I hear it with a short vowel, like "muh", but with a more e-like vowel sound.

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

i pronounce it like the "me" in "melodrama."

― j b everlovin' r (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 12:13 (twenty years ago)

I've always thought of it as a thoughtful 'Mmmm...' followed by a dismissive 'Eh', contracted down to 'Meh'.

― PlayfulPuppy (playfulpuppy), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

Lisa shrugs and says 'eeh' when asked by Homer what it's like as part of the MTV generation to feel neither highs nor lows.

Adding the 'm' presumably came a little after that.

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

And Binky, another of Matt Groenig's creations, always says 'feh', which I think of as a more enthusiastic form of 'meh'.

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

Feh is a good Yiddish word, I use it all the time. Many of those neologisms on that Wikipedia entry are clearly not from The Simpsons, i.e. "avoision" is a genuine portmanteau word...

― MC Stylised Vadge (edwardo), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 13:49 (twenty years ago)

right. didn't mean to say he invented it.... just uses it all the time.

― D.I.Y. F.E.H. (dave225.3), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

'feh', which I think of as a more enthusiastic form of 'meh'.

When in New York, visit Katz's Deli!

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

The Simpsons.

I don't think people were as aware of the "M" so much before The Simpsons. It was just kind of a sound that happens as you open your mouth and say "Ehh" with a shrug. But, The Simpsons characters made a point of really pronouncing it "Meh" because it's one of those funny linguistic quirks that are delightfully odd when highlighted.

― Lexiconical Historian, Tuesday, 22 November 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

jbr and playful puppy are right in my book.
if anyone's an ipa aficionado, it's an open e, the symbol for which is a backwards 3.

― tres letraj (tehresa), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

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