Meh

The word may come from the Yiddish language. In Alexander Harkavy's Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary of 1898 and at least one later edition,{{Cite web|title=Harkavy's Dictionary|url=https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/harkavy/index.utf8.html|access-date=2021-03-11|website=www.cs.uky.edu}} 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”.{{Cite web|last=Zimmer|first=Ben|date=2013-09-06|title=A History of Meh, from Leo Rosten to Auden to The Simpsons|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/09/meh-etymology-tracing-the-yiddish-word-from-leo-rosten-to-auden-to-the-simpsons.html|access-date=2021-03-11|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Nuwer|first=Rachel|author-link=Rachel Nuwer |title=A 1928 Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary May Be the First Official Record of "Meh"|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-1928-yiddish-english-hebrew-dictionary-may-be-the-first-official-record-of-meh-5140610/|access-date=2021-03-11|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}} It is more recently defined as "well then; expression of dismissal".{{Cite web|title=Yiddish dictionary lookup|url=https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/dictionary.cgi?word=%D7%9E%D7%A2|access-date=2021-03-11|website=www.cs.uky.edu}} Hooray for Yiddish, by Leo Rosten uses the phonetic spelling "mnyeh", capturing its breathy, expressive enunciation by Yiddish-speakers.{{cite web|last=Zimmer|first=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Zimmer|date=September 6, 2013|title=A History of Meh, from Leo Rosten to Auden to The Simpsons|url=https://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/09/06/meh_etymology_tracing_the_yiddish_word_from_leo_rosten_to_auden_to_the_simpsons.html|access-date=February 26, 2014|work=Slate}} This pronunciation is echoed by the poet W. H. Auden's use of "mneh", in a dismissive allusion to the Moon landing;{{Cite news|title=Oxford English Dictionary Inducts 'Meh' Into Its Pages|language=en|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-meh-added-to-oxford-english-dictionary-1.5374180|access-date=2021-09-03}} Auden was in New York before and after World War Two,{{Cite web|last=Holford|first=Josie|date=2019-01-26|title=W. H. Auden and New York|url=https://www.josieholford.com/new-york/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=Rattlebag and Rhubarb|language=en-US}} and developed a close interest in Jewish conversation and culture.{{Cite journal|last=Roberts|first=Beth Ellen|date=2005|title=W. H. Auden and the Jews|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25167528|journal=Journal of Modern Literature|volume=28|issue=3|pages=87–108|doi=10.2979/JML.2005.28.3.87 |jstor=25167528 |s2cid=162250155 |issn=0022-281X|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|date=2020-09-29|title=The Jewish Auden|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/w-h-auden-in-jerusalem|access-date=2021-09-03|website=Tablet Magazine|language=en}}

All the above meanings suggest its close linkage with the Jewish shrug,{{Cite web|title=Meh Shrug GIFs|url=https://c.tenor.com/vjnjRj8r_HQAAAAC/whatever-shrug.gif|access-date=2021-09-03|website=Tenor|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=A Word for the Gesture: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯|url=https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/454491/a-word-for-the-gesture-%c2%af-%e3%83%84-%c2%af|access-date=2021-09-03|website=English Language & Usage Stack Exchange}} which is both a staple of acceptable humour among Jews,{{Cite web|title=50 best Jewish jokes {{!}} Jewish Care Interact|url=https://www.jewishcareinteract.org/50-best-jewish-jokes|access-date=2021-09-03|website=www.jewishcareinteract.org}}{{Cite web|last=UCL|date=2021-01-08|title=IAS Laughter: A Jewish Joke|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of-advanced-studies/publications/2021/jan/ias-laughter-jewish-joke|access-date=2021-09-03|website=Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS)|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=2017-11-11|title=What makes a Jewish joke Jewish|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2017/11/11/what-makes-a-jewish-joke-jewish|access-date=2021-09-03|issn=0013-0613}} and of anti-Semitic caricature.{{Cite web|title=Inscribed postcard of a shrugging Jewish man in a yellow hat - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|url=https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn545226|access-date=2021-09-03|website=collections.ushmm.org}}{{Cite news|last=Greschler|first=Gabriel|date=2020-11-02|title=Opponent's use of 'shrugging' image is antisemitic, Sacramento pol says|url=https://www.jweekly.com/2020/11/02/opponents-use-of-shrugging-image-is-antisemitic-sacramento-pol-says/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=J.|language=en-US}} Thus, as a Yiddish word adopted into (American) English, it stems from the interplay of Jews with Anglo-American culture past and present,{{Cite web|date=2015-10-01|title=The Anglo-Saxons and the Jews|url=https://blog.oup.com/2015/10/anglo-saxons-jews/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=OUPblog|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Harris|first=Stephen J.|title=Imagining the Jew in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Culture |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781442666283-007/html|chapter=1.Anglo-Saxons, Israelites, Hebrews, And Jews|date=2018-10-08|pages=27–39 |publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-6628-3|language=en|doi=10.3138/9781442666283-007}}{{Cite news|last=Stephens|first=Bret|date=2020-10-27|title=Opinion {{!}} Anti-Semitism and What Feeds It|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/opinion/antisemitism-tree-of-life-shooting.html|access-date=2021-09-03|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last1=Abdul-Jabbar|first1=Kareem|last2=Abdul-Jabbar|first2=Kareem|date=2020-07-14|title=Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Where Is the Outrage Over Anti-Semitism in Sports and Hollywood?|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/kareem-abdul-jabbar-is-outrage-anti-semitism-sports-hollywood-1303210/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en-US}} an ambivalent expression of indifference, either good-humoured or contemptuous.

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

As early as 1992, meh appeared in a Usenet posting in a discussion referring to the television series Melrose Place.{{cite news |title='Meh' joins ranks of little words that do grunt work |first=Nathan |last=Bierma |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2007/04/13/meh-joins-ranks-of-little-words-that-do-grunt-work/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=April 13, 2007 |page=2 |access-date=2010-08-09 }}

Meh{{'}}s popularity surged after its use on the American animated television series The Simpsons.{{cite web|url=https://www.simpsonschannel.com/2008/11/meh-the-simpsons-make-word-history/ |title='Meh' - The Simpsons Make Word History |date=November 19, 2008 |work=Simpsons Channel |access-date=18 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616081830/https://www.simpsonschannel.com/2008/11/meh-the-simpsons-make-word-history/ |archive-date=June 16, 2009 }} It was first used in the 1994 episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts", 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".

American lexicographer Benjamin Zimmer wrote in 2006, "Whatever Yiddish origins the interjection might have had, they have been lost in post-Simpsons usage."{{cite web |url=https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/meh-fail-gop-debate-elicits-words-of-disappointment/ |title='Meh? Fail? GOP Debate Elicits Words of Disappointment' |work=Visual Thesaurus |access-date=15 April 2013}} Zimmer contacted Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder, 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" and "I got the impression it was already very old when Howie told it to me."{{Cite magazine |date=2021-05-02 |title=John Swartzwelder, Sage of "The Simpsons" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/john-swartzwelder-sage-of-the-simpsons |access-date=2023-03-02 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}} Zimmer also contacted the writers of the other two episodes but they could not remember where they had heard the word.

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".

The first mainstream print usage of meh occurred in the Canadian newspaper Edmonton Sun in 2003: "Ryan Opray got voted off Survivor. Meh".{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Steve |date=May 5, 2007 |title=Meh...: A little word replaces the indifference of 'whatever' – like you care |work=Times Union |page=D1 }} In December 2009, meh was included in the BBC News Online list of 20 words which defined the decade.{{cite news |last=Dent |first=Susie |date=2009-12-14 |title=Words: The final 20. In A portrait of the decade |work=BBC News |access-date=14 December 2009 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8406898.stm}} On October 14, 2013, ABC News posted on their website under headlines: US Government Shuts Down, World Says, 'Meh'.{{cite news |url= https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/10/headlines-us-government-shuts-down-world-says-meh |title=Headlines: US Government Shuts Down, World Says, 'Meh'|work=ABC News |first=Chris |last=Good |date=October 4, 2013 |access-date=February 26, 2014}} The New York Times{{'}}s The One Page Magazine now features a "meh" list.{{cite web |url=https://www.babble.com/babble-voices/dad-overboard-seth-taylor/the-death-of-meh |title=Yes, We Believe That Pizza Is Meh |work=The New York Times |first=Willy |last=Stalley |date=January 27, 2014 |access-date=February 26, 2014}}

Meh.com, a daily deals website from Woot founder Matt Rutledge, debuted on July 9, 2014.{{cite web |url=https://geeksided.com/2014/07/09/woot-founder-launches-meh-com-woot-redux/ |title=Woot founder launches meh.com, a Woot redux |access-date=11 July 2014}} Rutledge paid $100,000 for the meh.com domain in June 2014.{{cite web |url=https://dotweekly.com/matt-rutledge-buys-meh-com-100k/ |title=Matt Rutledge Buys MEH.com For $100K |work=DotWeekly.com}}

In November 2008, the word was added to the Collins English Dictionary, a British publication published by HarperCollins.{{cite news |last=Hoyle |first=Ben |date=November 17, 2008 |title=Looking for a word to describe how bored you are? Try meh |work=The Times |page=21 }} 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.{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Leith |author-link=Sam Leith |title='Meh' is more useful than 'weaselnose' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3563562/Meh-is-more-useful-than-weaselnose.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=November 17, 2008 |access-date=December 4, 2009}}

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

"As in 'the Canadian election was so meh'."

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".{{cite news |last=Boswell |first=Randy |title=Canadian politics: The definition of 'meh' |date=November 18, 2008 |work=Canwest News Service |url=https://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=f216bac2-8f0b-4202-a1ae-8f7ed4de2bd7 |access-date=December 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113152656/https://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=f216bac2-8f0b-4202-a1ae-8f7ed4de2bd7 |archive-date=January 13, 2012 }}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Wiktionary|meh}}

• {{cite web |first=Mark |last=Caro |title=A surprising brouhaha over the use of 'meh' |date=March 2, 2009 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=December 4, 2009 |url=https://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-03-02/news/0903020468_1_bart-word-john-hodgman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123235549/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-03-02/news/0903020468_1_bart-word-john-hodgman|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2016}}
• {{cite web|author=Staff Writer |title='Meh': Apathetic Expression Added to Dictionary |date=November 17, 2008 |work=Fox News |access-date=2009-04-13 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/meh-apathetic-expression-added-to-dictionary}}

Category:Interjections

Category:Oral communication

Category:Yiddish words and phrases

Category:English-language slang

Category:1990s neologisms