meh-ness

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 6/8/06, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> > Anyone know more about the Yiddish use of "meh"? In the 1936
> > song it appears as the sad bleat of a goat, which seems a bit
> > different from apathetic "meh".
>
> MELODRAMA IN YIDDISH by Jacob Goldstein
> New York Times; Dec 25, 1898; pg. 13
> "Herr Ginsburg also rejoices in the possession of a comic manservant, a
> sort of Yiddish-Galacian, Launcelot Gobbo, who sings a rather suggestive
> song, the burden of which is:  "Feh, es ist zu meeas zu sogen!" -- "Fie,
> It's Too Nasty to Tell!" "

That's good for "feh", but what about "meh"?


--Ben Zimmer

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