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> The D'oh of … D'oh!
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The D'oh of … D'oh!

In case you're completely out of touch, “d'oh” is what Homer Simpson (of The Simpsons) says when he realizes he's just done something stupid. I can't track down where I saw it, but I'm pretty sure the spelling is the one Groening uses.

The moment when I realized there was something interesting about this expression was when I read the following Nancy cartoon (Nov. 16, 1999).

Nancy (studying math): Fractions are stupid … I'll never even use these fractions in real life.

Enter mom.

Mom: Well … how much of your homework have you done?

Nancy: Only 1/2.

Nancy: D'oh!

Well, actually Nancy didn't say “d'oh”, she just had those little exclamation marks above her head, but it was obviously exactly what she meant to say. So, I wondered, before The Simpsons, what did people say when they'd done something stupid? Is it possible that there was never a word in English for this idea before?

* * *

By the way, I just ran across a nice article about “d'oh”.

 

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  Being the Car
  On Cursing

@ April (2000)
o April (2002)