KEY POINTS:
It may be a sign of the times that Britain is embroiled in a heated debate about the words of Homer. Simpson, that is, rather than the author of the Iliad. The sayings of Matt Groening's animated couch potato have earned such currency they are included not just
in the Oxford English Dictionary but the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations.
Homer of Springfield, not Ithaca, is best known as the beer-slurping father of Bart, whose claim to profundity extends little further than exclamations of approval, such as "mmm, doughnuts" or demanding of his wife, "Marge, are we Jewish?"
His place alongside the likes of Churchill, Shakespeare and others was secured with his much-loved slogan for the slacker generation: "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try." But his oft-quoted catchphrase "doh" has got people talking.
The word first entered the OED in 2001. Despite its status as an interjection, it did not carry an exclamation mark. Nor did it contain an apostrophe.
Its definition was quite straightforward: "Expressing frustration at the realisation 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."
However, according to the OED's chief editor John Simpson the first recorded example can be dated back to the BBC radio comedy of the 1940s, when Tommy Handley was one of Britain's biggest stars with his show ITMA - It's That Man Again.
It was not until 1945, in its sixth series, that a script by Ted Kavanagh deployed it for the first time. Diana Morrison, who played Miss Hotchkiss, replied with an exclamation-marked Dooh! to a jibe about her "whiskers".
It returned later in this exchange.
Diana: "The man I marry must be affectionate and call me 'Dear'."
Tom: "Oh you're going to be a stag's wife.'
Diana: "Doh!"
The word made further cameos in Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings & Darbishire in 1952 before disappearing until 1989, when it was used in the kids' magazine Beano.
"It is all a question of currency," said the OED's Mr Simpson. "This term has been about since the 1940s, probably before - but it was its use in The Simpsons that prompted us to make an entry." He concedes that the advent of the internet has made it easier for a word to gain currency. "To some extent, the question is whether a word has become part of the culture. Whether you like it or not - 'doh' is quite fun. It will probably be replaced in 10 years' time by something else, but that's how slang works."
But now Homer Simpson's utterances have joined those of the immortals. Once added, the OED does not remove words from its dictionary.
- Independent