A new use of "duh?"

[Jeff Prucher]

--- Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:

> > I come down on the side of "bizarre and unusual." I've never seen it or
> > heard it before. Anyway, what caught my attention was the use of "duh" as
> > though it was a noun and a synonym of "wonder":
> >
> > "Well, no wonder / no duh your product isn't selling ..."
> >
> >  The meaning is clear, but this construction is new to me. I guess that I
> > need to get out more. ;-)
>
> I grew up hearing "no duh" (NJ, '70s-'80s), but it was never used this
> way. It was always the equivalent of "no shit (Sherlock)"-- I vaguely
> remember "no derrr" being used for similar effect. So using it as the
> equivalent of "no wonder..." sounds pretty odd to me too. But I see
> how this sense could be extrapolated from the traditional playground
> usage.

I grew up with "no duh" also, (80s, Michigan), and this usage doesn't seem
unusual to me at all, and I'm sure that I have used it in this manner, although
it's probably the first time I've seen it in writing.  (My wife, also a
Michigander, says she's heard it, too.)  I would define this use of "no duh" as
"no shit" as well, though -- as in "Well _no shit_ your product isn't selling
[you idiot -- your product sucks]."  "No wonder" implies (to me anyway) that
something that was not obvious has been made clear, whereas "no duh" implies
that whatever it is, it should be obvious to anyone who isn't a moron.

Jeff Prucher

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