# Confused..please clear up for me **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 18, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978 "2006-07-18T05:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/1 "2006-07-18T05:42:55Z")
What does meh and heh mean in computer vocabulary? What address can I find computer definitions as above? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/2 "2006-07-18T09:53:27Z")
If you’re referring to them as acronyms (i.e. MEH and HEH), as opposed to just textual representations of noncomittal spoken sounds, then I’ve never heard of them; in what context have you seen them? ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/3 "2006-07-18T09:59:38Z")
Heh in gaming is even more lazy than saying hehe. Denotes a laugh and goes in the same bracket as lol. Meh - I think, just means something akin to crap, dismissable. Kinda like sticking your tongue out and going “bleh”! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/4 "2006-07-18T16:22:23Z")
[QUOTE=BadBadger] Heh in gaming is even more lazy than saying hehe. Denotes a laugh and goes in the same bracket as lol. Meh - I think, just means something akin to crap, dismissable. Kinda like sticking your tongue out and going “bleh”! [/QUOTE] No, no. “Meh” is a noncommital word, the textual equivalent of a shrug. I think you mean “feh.” “Heh” is like hehe, or lollerskates or whatever the kids are saying these days, only much much less so. It means something is mildly amusing. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/5 "2006-07-18T16:41:04Z")
I agree. _Meh_ is a shrug of the shoulders (and an extremely useful addition to the English language.) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/6 "2006-07-18T16:41:56Z")
“Heh” is more of a short, single chuckle rather than a whole laugh. “Heh”, “Hehe” and “heehee” all have different sounds and uses in my vocab. Heh is just mild amusement, something that you find funny but not quite enough to really laugh about. “Meh” is exactly what it sounds like. Shrug your shoulders and make a monosyballic noise to indicate “Dont’ know, don’t care, can’t be bothered”. It should sound something like “Meh”. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/7 "2006-07-18T17:11:35Z")
[QUOTE=BadBadger] Heh in gaming is even more lazy than saying hehe. Denotes a laugh and goes in the same bracket as lol. [/QUOTE] Damnit. I’ve been using it to avoid lol. I hate lol. But sometimes you’re chatting, and someone says something, and you want to acknowledge that you heard it and you think it’s amusing, but you like smilies even less - what do you do? ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/8 "2006-07-19T09:05:08Z")
Agreed. The chat window just fills up with lol lol lol rofl. Drives me insane. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/9 "2006-07-21T08:38:06Z")
I use hee to indicate that I find it more than slightly amusing myself, or heheheh to denote a chuckle (sometimes wry or evil) depending. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/10 "2006-07-21T16:09:05Z")
I’ve always been partial to ‘bwahahaha!’ sometimes spelled ‘mwahahaha!’ …although that may say more about the kind of conversations I’m in than being any sort of help. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/11 "2006-07-26T18:11:03Z")
I’ve always thought that ‘mwahahaha’ was the evil-overtones version of ‘bwahahaha’. No? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/12 "2006-07-26T18:17:13Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Damnit. I’ve been using it to avoid lol. I hate lol. But sometimes you’re chatting, and someone says something, and you want to acknowledge that you heard it and you think it’s amusing, but you like smilies even less - what do you do? [/QUOTE] You’re fine, **'Mika** …it’s not at all in the same league as lol. “Heh” away. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/13 "2006-07-26T23:48:58Z")
Apparently, since Spanish-speakers have a similar sound for our “h” and their “j”, they type “jaja” for “haha,” and other similar things. I was very confused the first time I saw “bwajajaja” in an online game. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/14 "2006-07-27T01:42:51Z")
So does the Spanish Santa Claus say “Jo Jo Jo?” 🙂 Seriously, that’s really cool. I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/15 "2006-07-27T12:06:21Z")
The Germans are fond of “huhu”. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/16 "2006-07-27T12:15:23Z")
Not to mention “teh”, which is usually a mistyping for “the”. And “feh”, similar to “meh”. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/17 "2006-07-27T19:39:12Z")
[QUOTE=cazzle] “Heh” is more of a short, single chuckle rather than a whole laugh. …Heh is just mild amusement, something that you find funny but not quite enough to really laugh about. [/QUOTE] I also use it when something is funny in the sense of “funny you should mention that, I had a similar amusing experience as follows:” ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/18 "2006-07-27T20:43:12Z")
If you look under General Questions about 5 or down from the top is a thread by Manhattan that says heh and then something political in the subject. What did he mean to say with that heh? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-please-clear-up-for-me/364978/19 "2006-07-27T21:07:00Z")
It’s sticky meant to show why discussion of politics must stay out of General Questions. It’s kind of a wry, here’s why, bemused at how out of control discussions can get.