Personally, I find it hysterical. Since it’s mostly used intentionally, and not out of ignorance, judicious use of it just makes me grin. It’s sort of like teh lolcatz.
What’s your opinion?
For those who don’t grok, check out kambuckta’s OP here.
It would be more funny if it weren’t horribly overused. It’s beginning to make the rolleyes smiley look like a well-reasoned argument.
It was funny maybe the 1st 5 or 6 times I saw it. Now that I’ve seen it in an amount of times that would require exponential notation to describe, it’s not quite knee-slapper it once was.
Judicious use. This is teh key.
I use it a lot - but genuinely. I am a crappy typist and my "the"s often end up as "teh"s. Very annoying.
It was pretty funny back in 1998.
My fingers always type teh, just because that’s teh way they work.
Word & Outlook always correct my teh’s into the’s before I even see them.
The SDMB message entry box does not.
So as a result, almost every post I make has numerous teh’s in it. I try to proofread carefully, but at least one usally slips through in a post this length.
My take: on the SDMB teh is equivalent to the; it’s a typo, not an ironic statement. Elsewhere on the 'Net? Who knows. Ask the guy/gal who typed it. Ask a thousand people & you’ll get a thousand answers.
My advice: Chill.
I must have missed the “teh” memo because I have no idea why it would be intentionally used. Nor do I know what lolcatz means.
I bang out teh a lot simply through error. Word is good enough to catch it for me.
Eth on the other hand is another matter.
It is used ironically here, much to my chagrin. You can usually tell by context whether it was a failed attempt at humor or a genuine typo.
When I use it intentionally, it is with irony, of course. I find it a particularly useful shorthand for “Something Someone Less Savvy/Intelligent/Sober Than I Might Say” or “Speaking Internetese” (and it most often includes implied or actual Capitalization For Emphasis.) Yeah, it’s absolutely condescending and obnoxious. That’s Teh Point.
Shouldn’t that be “just because that’s teh way tehy work”?
Let me add another thought: it is marginally more entertaining when it pertains to Internet dorkery rather than real life. “Teh Internets” is cliche but appropriate, “I’m eating at teh Chilis” (or god forbid, “teh Chileez” or some crap) is cause for punishment.
Or just general dorkery and stupidity. As in “Oh noes, teh scary brown people are gonna get you! Be afwaid!”
I’m uncomfortably conscious that it’s metahumor making fun of the sort of person who thinks it’s funny… yet I think it’s funny… cognitive dissonance! I use it with my buddies along with the super-exaggerated Valley Girl “LIKE OH MY GOD!” or similarly in email, as such:
“Hey, <stupid person> did <stupid thing stupid person does a lot> yesterday.”
“liek z0mg shoxx0r!!!11one. Maybe we should get him/her a helmet, eh?”
You’re saying “teh” is not always a typo, but intentional? Why? Who would do that, rappers who think “phat” is hilarious? But those are morons.
Why not? I mean, read WhyNot’s post for the answer. Another intentional misspelling that gained enormous popularity: pwned.
Oh God, that one’s the worst! It’s been almost four years since Bush’s famous gaffe, but I still see people pluralizing “Internet” all the time as if it were the goddamn height of hilarity.
It’s not.
In fact, it was funny for about five freakin’ minutes. Please just LET IT GO, people!
Read and weep. That article also notes that there are actually people who say “teh” out loud, thereby successfully reaching previously unthought-of levels of lame.
But I can still laugh at the internet being a series of tubes, right?