# It is not he he he! Damnit! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233 "2002-12-03T16:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/1 "2002-12-03T16:19:29Z")
This pet peeve of mine-- the misspelling of interjections–is about to drive me MAD. It is not “he he he.” It’s “HEE HEE HEE.” And “yeah” is not “yea.” I’d settle for “yay,” despite its not being in the dictionary, rather than “yeah.” Also, goddamnit, it is “VOILA!” not “Wallah” or other things I’ve seen. If you don’t know the word, fine. Just don’t use it in your writing. I am sure I am forgetting others. This is a lame rant but hoepfully some of you with higher blood pressure can ramp it up with more indignance and more examples. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/2 "2002-12-03T16:20:31Z")
ARGH!! This was supposed to be in The Pit. Forgive me. Please move it oh blessed Mods (and feel free to move it without leaving one of those arrow pointer things). ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/3 "2002-12-03T16:21:46Z")
I’m sure a mod will be around soon enough, and WALLAH! your thread will be in the pit! Yeah! he he he ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/4 "2002-12-03T16:25:04Z")
Huh? Whatchatalkin’ bout Willis? “Yeah” and “yea” are both okay. I also pronounce “yeah” different than “Yay.” The former is “yeh” or “ya” with an “a” as in “apple.” “Yea” is either “Yay” as in “Yea” or “Nay” or a truncated form of “yeah.” Or am I misconstruing your post. And its “hehehe” in Internetese, so maybe that’s your qualm. As for “Wallah.” Yeah, that bugs me too. And “Viola!” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/5 "2002-12-03T16:27:11Z")
**Cranky** , hehehe is NOT the same as hee hee hee. The latter is a giggle. The former is a sly chuckle. Hope that clarifies things a little. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/6 "2002-12-03T16:27:32Z")
And it’s “it’s” for the above “its.” ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/7 "2002-12-03T16:39:57Z")
[Alf]Boy, _somebody_ took a grumpy pill.[/Alf] Sorry, but I use “hehehe” ('cos it’s easier to type) Opps, does “cos” piss you off too? Or “opps” ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/8 "2002-12-03T16:47:12Z")
IIRC, “He he he” was the cry of a Welsh longbowman upon hitting his target. A distant gurgle may be mistaken for a giggle. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/9 "2002-12-03T16:48:24Z")
What the heck does “opps” mean? Don’t you mean “oops”? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/10 "2002-12-03T16:49:26Z")
It’s sexist, too, ain’t it? I mean, “she she she” ought to get equal time … Where is that SDMB moderation wallah? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/11 "2002-12-03T16:50:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > Also, goddamnit, it is “VOILA!” not “Wallah” or other things I’ve seen. If you don’t know the word, fine. Just don’t use it in your writing. No, it’s not. It’s voil **à**. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/12 "2002-12-03T16:53:56Z")
Look dan, a sly chuckle should be “heh heh heh.” Don’t make me drive to wherever you live and smack you around. Because I will do it. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/13 "2002-12-03T16:58:41Z")
A Portugese coworker of mine types it “Hi Hi Hi” Grim ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/14 "2002-12-03T16:59:01Z")
Only if it were a protracted chuckle! hehe ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/15 "2002-12-03T16:59:19Z")
I can’t _wait_ 'til this gets moved to the pit, 'cos boy are you gonna get it girlie… ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/16 "2002-12-03T16:59:34Z")
> [@](#): > > _superbee wrote:_ > Opps, does “cos” piss you off too? It doesn’t piss _me_ off, but it is hard to read. I have to stop and figure out what you mean, because I pronounce “cos” different from “cause”. Sort of like the difference between “cot” and “caught.” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/17 "2002-12-03T17:00:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\ ***Cranky** , hehehe is NOT the same as hee hee hee. > > The latter is a giggle. > > The former is a sly chuckle. > > Hope that clarifies things a little. \*\* I’d use “heh heh heh” for a sly chuckle. As for “he he,” my friend Cathy used to use a chat program that would insert sounds if you typed certain codes. “he he he” would produce a laughing sound. That’s where I’ve always understood it to come from. I still find it annoying, though! I see “yea” (prinounced “yay”) as being appropriate in things like “Yea, O Lord”; “yeah” (pronounced with the same vowel as in “fat”) in “yeah, right”; and “yah” (pronounced as in “fa la la”) as being a bit slangy. My mother and her German-descended sisters use “Yah” (ja?) a lot; they’ve never spoken a speck of German, so I think it must be hard-wired. 😛 And I’d rather see “cuz” than the abomination " 'cos." ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/18 "2002-12-03T17:00:38Z")
Merry Christmas, Cranky!! hohoho ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/19 "2002-12-03T17:27:25Z")
As long as this is still here, allow me to castigate J. D. Salinger for his spelling of the word “crummy” throughout _Catcher in the Rye_. It took me an extra **day** to read that book, because I kept stopping to wonder what Holden Caulfield had against crumbly things. [sub]FTR, he spelled it “crumby”, not “crumbly”. My brain was responsible for adding the extra “l”.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233/20 "2002-12-03T17:39:37Z")
According to Merriam Webster, “crumby” is the same as “crummy.” > [@](#): > > Main Entry: crum·my > Variant(s): also crumby /'kr&-mE/ > Function: adjective > Inflected Form(s): crum·mi·er also crumb·i·er; -est > Etymology: Middle English crumme > Date: 1567 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-he-he-he-damnit/140233.md?page=2)