{{short description|Catchphrase used by Homer Simpson}} {{Redirect|D-oh|the political organization sometimes abbreviated "D-OH"|Ohio Democratic Party|other uses|Doh (disambiguation){{!}}Doh}} {{Redirect|Annoyed Grunt|the song|Mouth Moods}} {{Use American English|date=September 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox movie quote | name = D'oh! | character = Homer Simpson<br>Marge Simpson<br>Bart Simpson<br>Lisa Simpson | actor = Dan Castellaneta | writer = | firstusedin = {{nowrap|"Punching Bag" (''The Tracey Ullman Show'')}}<br />{{nowrap|"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (''The Simpsons'')}} | alsousedin = {{nowrap|''It's That Man Again''}} }} "'''D'oh!'''" ({{IPAc-en|d|oʊ|ʔ|audio=En-us-d'oh.oga}}) is the most famous catchphrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from ''The Simpsons'', an animated sitcom. It is an exclamation typically used after Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something foolish, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him. All his prominent blood relations—son Bart, daughters Lisa and Maggie, his father, his mother and half-brother—have also been heard to use it themselves in similar circumstances. On a few occasions, Homer's wife Marge and characters outside the family such as Mr. Burns and Sideshow Bob have also used this phrase.
In 2006, "d'oh!" was listed as number six on TV Land's list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-28-catchprase-list_x.htm|title=Dyn-O-Mite! TV Land lists catchphrases|access-date=September 7, 2008|date=November 28, 2006|newspaper=USA Today|archive-date=April 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415220143/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-28-catchprase-list_x.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvland.com/originals/catchphrases/quotes.jhtml |title=The 100 greatest TV quotes and catchphrases |access-date=September 7, 2008 |year=2008 |publisher=TV Land |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313194321/http://www.tvland.com/originals/catchphrases/quotes.jhtml |archive-date=March 13, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The spoken word "d'oh" is claimed as a sound trademark by the owner of ''The Simpsons'', 20th Century Studios.<ref name="tmsearch.uspto.gov">{{cite web|url=https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:dpyg21.3.89 |title=Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), Registration 76280750|access-date=September 21, 2023 |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office}}</ref> Since 2001, the word "doh" has appeared in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', without the apostrophe.<ref name=CBC_Oxford/> Early recorded usages of the sound "d'oh" are in numerous episodes of the BBC Radio series ''It's That Man Again'' between 1945 and 1949, but the ''OxfordWords'' blog notes "Homer was responsible for popularizing it as an exclamation of frustration."<ref name=dict/> The term also appeared in an early issue of ''Mad'' comics, with a different spelling but the same meaning, in issue 8 (December 1953 – January 1954); in a one-page story by Harvey Kurtzman entitled "Hey Look!", a man seeking peace and quiet suddenly hears a loud radio and, grimacing, says, "D-oooh – the neighbors {{sic}} radio!!"
==Origin== Several decades before ''The Simpsons'' was aired, the exclamation "D'oh!" was used in the BBC radio comedy program, ''It's That Man Again'', which ran from 1939 to 1949. It was the catchphrase of the formidable, but soft-hearted, character, "Miss Hotchkiss".<ref>{{cite book |contributor-last=Kavanagh |contributor-first=P. J. |contributor-link=P. J. Kavanagh |last=Kavanagh |first=Ted |author-link=Ted Kavanagh |title=The ITMA Years: Scripts |date=1975 |publisher=Futura Publications |location=London |isbn=978-0-86007-245-4 |page=141 |contribution=Introduction}}</ref>
[[File:James Finlayson says "D'oh!".webm|thumb|James Finlayson saying "D'oh!" in ''Men O' War'' (1929). Dan Castellaneta acknowledged the actor as the progenitor of the expression.]] During the voice recording session for a ''Tracey Ullman Show'' short, Homer was required to utter what was written in the script as an "annoyed grunt".<ref name="sprcon">{{cite book |last1=Reiss |first1=Mike |last2=Klickstein |first2=Mathew |title=Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons |date=2018 |publisher=Dey Street Books |isbn=978-0062748034 |page=108|location=New York City}}</ref> Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out "d'ooooooh". This was inspired by the Scottish actor Jimmy Finlayson, who had used the term in his first sound film role, in 1929's ''Men O' War'', as a minced oath for suggesting the word "damn!"<ref name="sprcon"/> Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster. Castellaneta then shortened it to a quickly uttered "d'oh!"<ref name=herald>{{Cite news|title=What's the story with . . . Homer's D'oh! |newspaper=The Herald, Glasgow |pages=15 |date=July 21, 2007 |url=http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.1562687.0.whats_the_story_with_homers_doh.php |access-date=July 22, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111111/http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.1562687.0.whats_the_story_with_homers_doh.php |archive-date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref> The first intentional use of "d'oh!" occurred in the ''Ullman'' short "Punching Bag" (1988),<ref name=herald/>{{irrelevant citation|date=September 2025|reason=The reference states that the first time it was used on the Tracey Ullman show was in 1989, not 1988, and "Punching Bag" is never referenced, so this reference does not support the claim made in this sentence.}} and its first usage in the series was in the series premiere, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".<ref name="doh">{{cite news|first=Jeremy |last=Simon |title=Wisdom from The Simpsons' 'D'ohh' boy |url=http://snpp.com/other/interviews/castellaneta94.html |newspaper=The Daily Northwestern |date=February 11, 1994 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515145344/http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/castellaneta94.html |archive-date=May 15, 2008 }}</ref> It is typically represented in the show's script as "(annoyed grunt)", and is also spelled out as such in the official titles of several episodes. Some episodes feature variations of the word such as "Bart of Darkness" (season six, 1994), where Homer says "D'oheth"<ref name="doh"/> after an Amish farmer points out to him that he has built a barn instead of the swimming pool he was intending; "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" (season ten, 1999), where Homer says "d'oh" in Japanese (with English subtitles, the spoken phrase being "''shimatta baka ni''", meaning roughly "damn folly"); or ''The Simpsons Movie'' (2007) where Homer bellows "d'oh-ome!" after the EPA seals the Simpsons' hometown, Springfield, in a giant dome.<ref>{{cite video |title=The Simpsons Movie |medium=Film |publisher=20th Century Fox |date=July 27, 2007}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=July 2025}} The spelling is made official in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)" (season eight, 1997), in which Homer, after having eaten a very spicy chili, hallucinates about a tortoise and exclaims a loud "d'oh!" as he realizes that he needs to follow the slow animal in order to find out about his soul mate.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}
==Episode names== [[File:Dan_Castellaneta_cropped.jpg|thumb|Dan Castellaneta, voice of Homer Simpson]] As the word arose out of Castellaneta's interpretation of a non-specific direction, it did not have an official spelling for several years. Instead, it was always written in Simpsons scripts as "(Annoyed Grunt)", and then later on being spelled "d'oh", as it remains today.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Simpsons (TV Series 1989– ) - IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/episodes |access-date=2022-05-03}}</ref>
* "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" (Season 8, 1997) * "D'oh-in' in the Wind" (Season 10, 1998) * "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" (Season 11, 1999) * "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" (Season 11, 2000) * "C.E. D'oh" (Season 14, 2003) * "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" (Season 15, 2004) * "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" (Season 17, 2006) * "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)" (Season 18, 2006) * "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" (Season 19, 2007) * "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh" (Season 20, 2009) * "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed" (Season 21, 2010) * "The Falcon and the D'ohman" (Season 23, 2011) * "The D'oh-cial Network" (Season 23, 2012) * "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh" (Season 30, 2019) * "D'oh Canada" (Season 30, 2019)
==Dictionary== The term "d'oh!" has been used or adopted by many ''Simpsons'' fans as well as non-fans. The term has become commonplace in modern speech and demonstrates the extent of the show's influence. "D'oh!" was first added to the ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' in 1998 as an interjection with the definition "(usually [in a manner] mildly derogatory) used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid."<ref name=CBC_Oxford>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news2/indepth/words/doh_oed.html |title=D'oh! A Dictionary update |access-date=September 8, 2008|date=July 17, 2001 |author=Shewchuk, Blair |publisher=CBC News}}</ref>
In 2001, the word "d'oh" was added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'';<ref name="oed">OED, 3rd draft online edition, s.v. "doh"</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1387335.stm |title=It's in the dictionary, d'oh! |access-date=August 16, 2007 |date=June 14, 2001 |work=BBC News, Entertainment |publisher=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021203092605/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1387335.stm |archive-date=December 3, 2002}}</ref> The definition given is:<ref name="oed"/><ref> {{cite magazine |url=https://www.newsweek.com/id/78912?tid=relatedcl |title='D'oh!' The Right Thing? |access-date=September 7, 2008 |date=June 15, 2001 |magazine=Newsweek}}</ref> :"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" (cf. <small>DUH</small> ''int.''). The headword spelling is ''doh'', but ''d'oh'' is listed as a variant (as is ''dooh''). The etymology section notes "the word appears (in the form ''D'oh'') in numerous publications based on ''The Simpsons''".<ref name="oed"/> Eight quotations featuring the sound "d'oh" are cited: the earliest is from a 1945 episode of the BBC radio series ''It's That Man Again''; two others are ''Simpsons''-related.<ref name="oed"/><ref name=dict>{{cite news|url=http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/04/the-simpsons/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420103949/http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/04/the-simpsons/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 20, 2013|title=Ay caramba! A look at some of the language of The Simpsons|date=April 17, 2013|access-date=September 14, 2013|publisher=Oxford Dictionaries}}</ref>
==See also== * ''¡Ay, caramba!'' * Facepalm
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|d'oh}} * [https://www.simpsonsarchive.com/guides/dohs.html The definitive "D'oh" list] * [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1387335.stm D'oh! joins the Oxford English Dictionary] – BBC News * {{Wiktionary-inline|grimace|"grimace"}} – A sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust. * {{Wiktionary-inline|duh|"duh"}} {{The Simpsons}}
Category:The Simpsons Category:Quotations from film Category:Quotations from television Category:Quotations from animation Category:Interjections Category:Running gags Category:Comedy catchphrases Category:Sound trademarks <!-- see http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/kidsound.html --> Category:1988 neologisms Category:American English words Category:1988 quotations Category:American English idioms