duh

(dŭ)
interj.
Used to express disdain for something deemed stupid or obvious, especially a self-evident remark.

[Imitative of an utterance attributed to slow-witted people.]

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Origin: 1963

In 1963, the New York Times Magazine explained the usefulness of this little word: "A favorite expression is 'duh.'... This is the standard retort used when someone makes a conversational contribution bordering on the banal. For example, the first child says, 'The Russians were first in space.' Unimpressed, the second child replies (or rather grunts), 'Duh.'"

Well, duh. It's a no-brainer. It began as an outward expression of a slow-witted cartoon character's mental processes, as in a 1943 Merrie Melodies movie: "Duh.... Well, he can't outsmart me,' cause I'm a moron." Later in the twentieth century it blossomed into every man, woman, and child's condescending exclamation upon hearing a self-evident and thereby unnecessary remark. It is so simple that it is one of the first verbal weapons learned by children, so effective that it stays in their linguistic arsenal as they grow to adulthood. For maximum effect, duh can be extended long and loud, with an extra twist in the pitch of the voice.

Because it stoops to the presumed mental level of the remark on which it comments, duh can backfire, implying that the perpetrator rather than the recipient is dimwitted. But since most of us are not Rocket Scientists (1985), who cares? We've made our point, regardless. Duh!

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