D'oh!
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D'oh! is the comical catch phrase of Homer Simpson, from the long running animated series The Simpsons. It is typically used when Homer injures himself or realizes that he has done something stupid.
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Origin
The cry of "d'oh!" is typically represented in the show's script as "annoyed grunt". When Dan Castellaneta, the actor who plays Homer, was first asked to voice the exclamation he rendered it as as a drawn out "dooh", inspired by Laurel and Hardy. The show's creator Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it was spoken faster so Castellaneta shortened it to "D'oh!"
A common interpretation, however, is that Homer started to exclaim damn! but caught himself, replacing the rest of the word with -oh. Another, similar interpretation claims that Homer simply uses D'oh! as a euphemism for damn. This last interpretation is supported by Castellaneta himself.
Variations
Variations of the catch phrase have appeared in some episodes of The Simpsons. On a family trip to Japan Homer said something in Japanese, sounded phonetically as "emata-pak-ani," that was translated in subtitles as D'oh!. When Homer had his jaw wired shut in the episode "Jaws Wired Shut" he was reduced to communicating with others by writing on a chalkboard, including going so far as to write "D'oh". In the episode "Bart of Darkness", while talking to an apparently Amish man, Homer expresses his frustration with a cry of "D'oheth!". In the episode "Burns' Heir", Mr. Burns decides to make Bart his heir and tries to convince Bart that his family doesn't want him anymore, hiring Simpsons-family lookalikes, including a badly-trained Homer impersonator bearing an uncanny resemblance to Michael Caine who says b'oh! instead of d'oh!. After Burns corrects him, the false Homer tries again, this time exclaiming duh-oh!
Episode names
"D'oh!" is never featured in The Simpsons scripts. Instead it is written as "annoyed grunt". In recognition of this, several episodes feature the phrase "annoyed grunt" in the episode title where one would expect the term "d'oh". Such episodes include "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" (instead of "I, D'oh-bot", a play on I, Robot), "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" (a parody of Mary Poppins) and "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)".
However, "d'oh" is always uttered in the show's promos that are run by Fox. For example, when Fox promoted the episode that was scheduled to air immediately after Super Bowl XXXIX, it was billed as the "Super Bowl Halftime D'oh!" because Homer interrupts the promo's announcer with "d'oh," which obviously was intended to be a replacement for "show."
Three episodes do have the term "d'oh" in their names. These are season 10's "D'oh-in' in the Wind", season 11's "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses", and season 14's "C.E. D'oh".
Usage
The term d'oh! has been adopted by many Simpsons fans. The term has become commonplace in modern speech and demonstrates the reach of the show's influence. "D'oh" has been added to the Webster's Millennium Dictionary of English and the Oxford English Dictionary. It was defined as a colloquial term "expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish. Also (usu. mildly derogatory), implying that another person has said or done something foolish (cf. DUH int.).
In German dubbed versions of the Simpsons, d'oh! is translated to nein! (no!).
In Spanish dubbed versions of the Simpsons, d'oh! is changed to the expression "Ou!" (pronounced like the name of the letter O), which is not actually an interjection in the spanish language (though it resembles the interjection "Ouch"). The pronunciation of this expression, with the proper Homer-like entonation, has entered as well in the popular culture of many spanish-speaking countries.
External links
- The definitive "D'oh" list (http://www.snpp.com/guides/dohs.html)
- D'oh! joins the Oxford English Dictionary (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1387335.stm) - BBC News