D'oh!


"D'oh!" is a catchphrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from the television series The Simpsons, an animated sitcom. It is an exclamation typically used after Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him. All his prominent blood relations—son Bart, daughters Lisa and Maggie, his father, his mother and half-brother—have also been heard to use it themselves in similar circumstances. On a few occasions, Homer's wife Marge and characters outside the family such as Mr. Burns and Sideshow Bob have also used this phrase.
In 2006, "d'oh!" was listed as number six on TV Land's list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases. The spoken word "d'oh" is a sound trademark of 20th Century Fox. Since 2001, the word "doh" has appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary, without the apostrophe. Early recorded usages of the sound "d'oh" are in numerous episodes of the BBC Radio series It's That Man Again between 1945 and 1949, but the OxfordWords blog notes "Homer was responsible for popularizing it as an exclamation of frustration." The term also appeared in an early issue of Mad comics, with a different spelling but the same meaning, in issue 8 ; in a one-page story by Harvey Kurtzman entitled "Hey Look!", a man seeking peace and quiet suddenly hears a loud radio and, grimacing, says, "D-oooh – the neighbors radio!!"

Origin

During the voice recording session for a Tracey Ullman Show short, Homer was required to utter what was written in the script as an "annoyed grunt". Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out "d'ooooooh". This was inspired by Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films, from the pre-sound era up to 1940. Finlayson had used the term as a minced oath for suggesting the word "damn!" without actually saying it. Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster. Castellaneta then shortened it to a quickly uttered "d'oh!" The first intentional use of "d'oh!" occurred in the Ullman short "Punching Bag", and its first usage in the series was in the series premiere, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". It is typically represented in the show's script as "", and is so spelled out in the official titles of several episodes. Some episodes feature variations of the word such as "Bart of Darkness", where Homer says "D'oheth" after an Amish farmer points out to him that he has built a barn instead of the swimming pool he was intending; "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", where Homer says "d'oh" in Japanese ; or The Simpsons Movie where Homer shouts "d'oooohme!" after the EPA seals the Simpsons' hometown, Springfield, in a giant dome.

Episode names

As the word arose out of Castellaneta's interpretation of a non-specific direction, it did not have an official spelling for several years. Instead, it was always written in Simpsons scripts as "". In recognition of this, four episodes feature the phrase "" in the episode title:
  • "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious"
  • "E-I-E-I-"
  • "I, -Bot"
  • "G.I. "
After the word became well-defined, nine other episodes just had it written in their titles as "D'oh" :
  • "D'oh-in' in the Wind"
  • "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses"
  • "C.E. D'oh"
  • "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere"
  • "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs"
  • "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh"
  • "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed"
  • "The Falcon and the D'ohman"
  • "The D'oh-cial Network"
  • "D'oh Canada"

    Dictionary

The term "d'oh!" has been used or adopted by many Simpsons fans as well as non-fans. The term has become commonplace in modern speech and demonstrates the extent of the show's influence. "D'oh!" was first added to the Oxford Dictionary of English in 1998 as an interjection with the definition " used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid."
In 2001, the word "d'oh" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary; The definition given is:
The headword spelling is doh, but d'oh is listed as a variant. The etymology section notes "the word appears in numerous publications based on The Simpsons". Eight quotations featuring the sound "d'oh" are cited: the earliest is from a 1945 episode of the BBC radio series It's That Man Again; two others are Simpsons-related.