Duh

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Duh is an American English slang exclamation that is used to express disdain for someone missing the obviousness of something. For example, if one read a headline saying "Scientific study proves pain really does hurt", the response may well be "Well, duh!".

1 Origins
2 Similar exclamations
3 Other Uses
4 References
5 External links
6 See also

[edit] Origins

Houghton Mifflin notes that the word 'duh' originally was used in cartoons of the early 1900s as an expression of the dimwitted. They write that duh is "an outward expression of a slow-witted cartoon character's mental processes, as in a 1943 Merrie Melodies movie: 'Duh.... Well, he can't outsmart me,' cause I'm a moron.'" This use expanded to become youth culture interjection for pointing out the obviousness of a statement made by others in the early 1960s.

In 1963, in an article on youthful slang, the New York Times Magazine wrote that, "A favorite expression is "duh" (spelled phonetically). This is the standard retort used when someone makes a conversation contribution bordering on the banal. For example, the first child says, 'The Russians were first in space.' Unimpressed, the second child replies (or rather grunts), 'Duh.'"

[edit] Similar exclamations

Many other expressions in American English are synonyms of "duh." "Ya think?" and a sarcastically pronounced "Oh really?" are of the most common.

ORLY? is a synonym of "duh" used in internet slang.

"Doi" (or "doy"), popular in the western United States from the 1980's onward, is used to express disgust with a situation of particularly complex and intricate idiocy; for example, as a comment upon a true FUBAR situation. In contrast, "Duh" is generally used as a comment upon instances of simple and obvious idiocy.

"No duh", "no doy," and "no dip" are all expressions commonly used in the midwestern United States, which have the same meanings as "duh" and "doy."

D'oh!, a well-used saying made famous by The Simpsons, is similar to Duh!, but is an exclamation in response to a mistake, not a statement used to point out the obviousness of a situation.

[edit] Other Uses

Short lived band existed primarily in the 1990's with the name Duh, and recorded for Boner Records and Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles.
The name of an album by Punk Rock Band Lagwagon.