Staff Blog
Apparently, your dictionary isn’t trying to teach you fake words
 |
| Ooo! Joel, what's your size?! We can both get one and totally be twinsies! |
| thinkgeek.com |
Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post about the Collins English Dictionary's inclusion of the word 'meh' into their 2009 edition. Here's my general thesis:
Meh isn't a word. It's a sound effect. There are other onomatopoetic words in the dictionary like bam, pop or bang but those have more real world applications then the expression of fuck-if-I-care used when commenting on the Internet.
Then Joel Mathis over at his Philly Weekly Cup O' Joel (aww, I get it!) political blog tried to start some shit:
“Meh” isn’t onomatopoetic, first of all. Unless Eichel knows what apathy actually sounds like. [ed note: Sweetheart, I used to be a suburban teenager. I, in fact, know exactly what apathy sounds like.]
But when you use the word “meh,” you’re actually communicating. It’s a very short way of saying something like “I don’t think I agree with the statement you just made, but I don’t care enough about it (or maybe I just don’t care enough about your opinion) to make a sustained or impassioned counterargument.”
(Which, come to think of it, would probably be the smarter response to Eichel than the one I’m writing.) [ed. note: Two commentors, including my co-worker, beat you to this punchline.]
So if somebody comes to you and says “I think Mayor Nutter isn’t going far enough — Philly should close ALL its libraries,” the correct response isn’t, “Pop!” It’s, “I agree.” Or “I disagree.”
Or “meh.” They’ll know exactly what you mean. “Meh” is a great word.”
CP head honcho BH reminded me that I'm a journalist and suggested I ask a qualified linguist, considering I'm not and I'm figuring neither is my new bud over at PW. Benjamin Zimmer, frequent contributor to Penn's excellent Language Log blog and the executive producer of the equally grammar-geek worthy Visual Thesauraus was kind enough to oblige. He has a history with the word meh and ended up using the Meh Controversy of '08 for his column weekly Visual Thesaurus column. So, let's get down and dirty, grammar-style:
First off:
Let me try to step in here. I'd say that meh is indeed onomatopoetic, insofar as it represents the sound of a short emphatic exclamation. Onomatopoeia doesn't just include conventional representations of the natural sounds that things make, like bam or pop, but the natural sounds that people make too. So score one point for Eichel.
Woohoo!
But then again:
But score one point for Mathis on the whole "It's not a word! It is too a word!" back-and-forth.
…
The problem here is that interjections in general seem a little less "wordish" than other more easily classified parts of speech. As Ben Yagoda wrote on Slate last year, lexicographers and linguists have long had difficulty knowing what to do with these expressive little words that largely function outside of grammar. The great American linguist Edward Sapir disparaged them as "among the least important of speech elements." Most thesauruses — like the Visual Thesaurus, for instance — have no place for interjections, since they're too busy with the parts of speech where the real semantic action of the language is happening: nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Meanwhile, the makers of dictionaries try their best, but they're still a bit unsure of how to handle interjections.
…
Ultimately, then, I come down on the side of meh as dictionary-worthy. For me, it inspires neither indifference nor boredom. Now, w00t is a different story...
So, that's that. Thanks to Zimmer for his insight. And, you may have won the battle, Mathis, but you haven't won the war. Muhahahahaha (now, kid, that's onomatopoetic).
Heh!
Joel, let’s get something straight. Eichel out thinks and out writes you. At least she has some wit. What do you have?
[...] Chris McDonough injured in mugging• The Ol’ Bracciole: Seeing dad’s face in A Bronx Tale• Apparently, your dictionary isn’t trying to teach you fake words• JCVD WEEK: Let’s start this thing off with a little ass kicking, shall we?• No [...]
Just for the record, I agree Molly is a fine writer. Any hint otherwise in my tongue-in-cheek “meh” beef with her was strictly unintentional.
Totally agreed, and same to Joel. “Internet fights” are simply good for ratings.
Dude lost me at “David Brooks, who is usually pretty smart…”
Funny…People always created new short word to describe their thought. Meh is one of it that I use to say it quite often too.