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I've heard many people use the interjection blah, or remark that they have the blahs, but Mad Magazine in the 1950s used the bleh spelling for the interjection, suggesting that it's all the same word.
When I look at dictionary.com, I find no entry for bleh, but they list eyewash as a synonym for blah, as an interjection.
What brings this to mind is an irritated and inflamed eyelid. Blepharitis, they call it, from the Greek word for eyelid. It doesn't normally bring one to his knees, not even put a man to bed, but it's annoying, and if one ignores it, as one tends to do with small aches and pains, it doesn't get better on its own, but rather hangs around forever, slowly grinding away like sand in one's swimsuit, until finally it brings on a sense of malaise - the blahs - and at least in me, mild disgust that I didn't bother to get and use some ointment weeks ago.
Dictionary.com says blah originated 1915-1920, and the word is imitative in origin. But is it? We use it often with highly expressive body language, but it doesn't strike me as onomatopoeic of anything in particular.
Could there be an etymological connection between blepharitis, bleh, and blah?
<-- off to get some eyewash
I remember it being used in Mad Magazine. It was the first time I had seen it and I haven't seen it much since then. Mad used a lot of words that I thought they created themselves. (axolotl, potrzebie) Later I found out they would get some foreign words and give them another meaning.
Even though I don't hear it much, it is in several slang dictionaries. I like this one. I think it has probably been replaced with "meh."
I think the number of Cs in bleh blech blecch bleccch can be taken as an indication of the level of distaste or disgust.
Bleh might be distaste, with blech as disgust, blecch as repulsion, bleccch as revulsion, blecccch as abhorrence, etc. Or am I reading too much into this?
So how many Cs would you rate the following foods on the bleh - blecccch scale?
liver
snails
frog legs
rattlesnake meat
monkey brains
Glenn said
I think the number of Cs in bleh blech blecch bleccch can be taken as an indication of the level of distaste or disgust.
Bleh might be distaste, with blech as disgust, blecch as repulsion, bleccch as revulsion, blecccch as abhorrence, etc. Or am I reading too much into this?So how many Cs would you rate the following foods on the bleh - blecccch scale?
liver
snails
frog legs
rattlesnake meat
monkey brains
liver, 2 (Based on actual liver consumption.);
snails, 2 (Based only on the thought);
frog legs, -4 (I liked them the last time I ate them about 45 years ago so I need to remove bleh as well.);
rattlesnake meat, 0 (until taste proven otherwise);
monkey brains, 1 (but I might be more swayed to avoid them because of possible disease transmission);
EmmettRedd said
liver, 2 (Based on actual liver consumption.);
snails, 2 (Based only on the thought);
frog legs, -4 (I liked them the last time I ate them about 45 years ago so I need to remove bleh as well.);
rattlesnake meat, 0 (until taste proven otherwise);
monkey brains, 1 (but I might be more swayed to avoid them because of possible disease transmission);
You are a fascinating man, my friend!
I also stumbled on this record of an episode of the Simpsons
New Kids on the Blecch
liver Calf liver, underdone, is wonderful. So is deer's liver; I've eaten is raw. Overcooked cow's liver might do well to resole shoes.
frog legs Only had them once. OK, but not worth a premium price. Better than the crawdad that I've eaten in etouffee.
rattlesnake meat Never had it, but no revulsion factor
monkey brains Finally a C. Rita Kissner, the mayor of Defiance Ohio has a family bar that's served brain sandwiches since 1928. One of the Defiance College profs always hold the last class at the bar, and offers to buy a brain sandwich for any interested student. They switched from pork brains to lamb brains when ptions were implicated in CJD. I've eaten cow's, pig's and sheep's brains, and they're good if breaded and sauted lightly and served as a sandwich with plenty of mustard, but I'd classify brains from monkey, cow, and pig as 100-C, because the risk, even as minimal as it is, is unacceptable. Kissnerr's also serves fish that stares at you from your plate. That gets a C or two in my book. If I chop off the head and wrap it in a paper napkin, though, it's mighty tasty.
)Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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