User:Theodore Weymouth

The earliest known printed public record of the usage of “MEH” was in the April 30, 1955 edition of hazqui!, a Dartmouth College Alumni Class of 1954 newsletter which opens as follows: In Hanover, a new and brilliant vernacularism is spreading across the campus, invading all realms of campus life, from 105 Dartmouth on Monday nights, to the D.C.U. Offices in College Hall, to the equipment room in Davis Field House. To you who were once strong advocates of “get on the stick”, “broad” (noun, not adjective), “twooo-six” (mainly spoken with a frown by football players), “See ya aroun’ the quad”, “snake” (verbal usage), or ”flick” when they were once nonstereotyped budding newcomers to the maelstrom of college conversation, bow down to the newer Dartmouth generation. For it has conceived a more fascinating, compelling, electrifying expression which whose definition is both indefinable and unmistakable. It runs the gamut of communication and has risen to a near hypnotic apex of popularity principally because of its versatility and simplicity. The expression is: “Meh.” When a student receives either an A or an F in Zoology III, he can be heard to mutter under his breath, “Meh!” An unprepared sophomore, in answering a question in class, will receive an understanding smile from his professor if he only speak this word. It must be spoken gutterally and tersely, slightly out of the side of the mouth, and the normal conversation must be continued as if the expression was never uttered. It can mean anything at all and may either be whispered or shouted. The Neanderthal Age and the Manchu Dynasty both claim to be the origin of “Meh!” and The Dartmouth suggests the modern source as the Barbary Coast. Someone should write a psychology thesis entitled “’Meh!’ – Origin and Usage” or for that matter, such a learned treatise would be accepted by any department. Some say that certain members of the faculty are beginning to communicate thusly during the chapel-coffee period, but don’t you believe it.