# This ought to be contentious: teh "TEH" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331 "2008-01-21T02:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/1 "2008-01-21T02:22:58Z")
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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=452188). > [@kambuckta](#): > > The outcome…I gave her ‘TEH PISSED-OFF-MOTHER LOOK’. She emptied the dishwasher without a murmur, and then hung a load of washing on the line AND cleaned her room. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/2 "2008-01-21T02:52:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/3 "2008-01-21T02:58:25Z")
[Teh Teh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_The)? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/4 "2008-01-21T02:58:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/5 "2008-01-21T03:00:47Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] 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. [/QUOTE] Judicious use. This is teh key. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/6 "2008-01-21T03:22:14Z")
I use it a lot - but genuinely. I am a crappy typist and my "the"s often end up as "teh"s. Very annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/7 "2008-01-21T03:26:26Z")
It was pretty funny back in 1998. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/8 "2008-01-21T13:35:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/9 "2008-01-21T14:27:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/10 "2008-01-21T14:36:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/11 "2008-01-21T14:51:46Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy] My take: on the SDMB teh is equivalent to the; it’s a typo, not an ironic statement. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/12 "2008-01-21T14:58:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/13 "2008-01-21T15:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy] My fingers always type teh, just because that’s teh way they work. [/QUOTE] Shouldn’t that be “just because that’s teh way tehy work”? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/14 "2008-01-21T15:49:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/15 "2008-01-21T16:02:06Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] 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. [/QUOTE] 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, \ did \ yesterday.” “liek z0mg shoxx0r!!!11one. Maybe we should get him/her a helmet, eh?” ---
**Author:** ![posting\_while\_driving\_a\_semi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@posting\_while\_driving\_a\_semi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/posting_while_driving_a_semi)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/16 "2008-01-21T16:49:11Z")
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. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/17 "2008-01-21T16:59:38Z")
[QUOTE=posting while driving a semi] Why? [/QUOTE] Why not? I mean, read **WhyNot** ’s post for the answer. Another intentional misspelling that gained enormous popularity: pwned. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/18 "2008-01-21T17:26:17Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] “Teh Internets” [/QUOTE] 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! ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/19 "2008-01-21T17:29:27Z")
[QUOTE=posting while driving a semi] 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. [/QUOTE] [Read and weep.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teh) That article also notes that there are actually people who _say “teh” out loud_, thereby successfully reaching previously unthought-of levels of lame. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331/20 "2008-01-21T21:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] 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! [/QUOTE] But I can still laugh at the internet being a series of tubes, right? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-ought-to-be-contentious-teh-teh/434331.md?page=2)