Talk:Teh

History

Teh used to redirect to to a dubiously useful page Alternative spellings of "the", but the "teh" section was wonderful. Unfortunately, the deletion vote did not take into account the possibility of just extracting the useful section. I have recreated it here, based on a Wikipedia mirror. Let's research this page and find sources rather than deleting useful content, m'kay? -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 14:27, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

thanks! teh word teh is teh best! Mathmo ^Talk 04:40, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

History/talk needs restoration -- User:Alucardracula

Looks like that's been done. -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 06:14, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Stupid

Well, it serves a purpose. The word is an active subject of conversation and is used in a very conscious, almost post-modern sense. It has an unusual history, in being a typo that is used intentionally. It acts as a shibboleth of sorts, marking the user as a member of the online/gaming/IM community. Additionally, it occupies several fairly well-defined but unusual parts of speech. -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 06:14, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

It is also a foriegn word, Indonesian for 'Tea'. Because of this, I believe it should be kept seperate. But, it will most likely need expanding for it to be satisfactory. YazzaMatazza 14:55, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Hey, I was actually curious about what "teh" was about and did a google search that directed me to this very useful article. Now I understand.SHJohnson 23:20, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

This is stub-worthy, at best. And it still would have world-minded deletionists up its ass the whole time. Try an article for every internet cool-dude misspelling, or "shibboleth" as they are now known, apparently. 67.167.120.36 (talk) 22:56, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Only no-one is suggesting an article for every such word, just the best known ones. And go and read Shibboleth before getting sarky. 163.1.150.21 (talk) 16:21, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

God, this is stupid, but I see that I probably won't prevail in convincing people it should be deleted. But come on, do we really need an explanation of how this occurs as a typo? "T and E are typed by the left hand on adjacent fingers in Qwerty, while the H is typed by the right, and in rapid typing, the T and E are often typed by the left hand in a drumming motion before the right can get the H in between the two. Overcompensating with the right hand can result in the misspelling hte, which is also found in auto-correct lists." One of the stupidest things I've seen in my life. Delete this part, at least. Where do we draw the line? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.3.227.154 (talk) 20:31, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Pizome said: "The word is an active subject of conversation and is used in a very conscious, almost post-modern sense." and "It acts as a shibboleth of sorts..." I think you're really reaching on this one. "Almost"? "of sorts"? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're the editor who described the grammatical usage of Teh as "somewhat fluid." An encyclopedia entry should Clearly and Concisely describe what "Teh" means and how it is used, but an encyclopedia article is not an occasion for pretentious Deluezians to wax intellectual about "grammatical fluidity."

I could see this being worthy of a stub, maybe, but the whole grammar section seems like a joke. -KaJunl (talk) 12:31, 10 October 2015 (UTC) KaJunl (talk) 12:31, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

Spanish

This might not be a big deal, but the example from the spanish is very awkward. It should be "yo soy el mejor," but lo is used in other cases like "eso fue lo mejor" etc. I mean, I certainly got the point, but it was a bit grating since I'm bilingual. -- User:bdieseldorff It is not stupid. It is just less used. Please respect its creator. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.100.106.215 (talk) 07:39, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Ha, that would be funny if this article had translations... Bob the Wikipedian (talk) 13:19, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I love it. "'Teh' usage?" 1337. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.120.148.173 (talk) 23:32, 5 October 2009 (UTC) This analogy is wrong, since "mejor" means best and not good. It should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.166.188.113 (talk) 04:41, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

I agree that the Spanish comparison doesn't seem apt. If "mejor" were the positive form of the adjective (rather than the comparative or superlative form), then "yo soy el mejor" would indeed be comparable to "I am teh good." However, given that "mejor" is the superlative and comparative form but not the positive form (which would be "bueno"), "yo soy el mejor" is instead comparable to the conventional English construction "I am the best." As far as I'm aware, there's no construction in Spanish along the lines of *"yo soy el bueno," which would be analogous to "I am teh good." Barring any argument to the contrary, I'll delete the Spanish sentence. 153.31.112.21 (talk) 14:55, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

Purpose

How does an article on the mispelling of a word serve a purpose? If this is the kind of things Wikipedia wants articles about, it shouldn't bill itself as an encyclopedia.

Because -- as the article and this talk page both discuss -- it has grown into more than a misspelling and is now a meme.

Wikipedia does not necessarily "want" each article that is created. It also does not require that you read every article, nor is it even necessary that you approve of every article. You may exercise a feature known as "not reading articles that don't interest you" at your own discretion. Posting to the talk page of every article that baffles you is also strictly optional.--NapoliRoma 02:30, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

What a cocky douchebag... I agree with unsigned (however inarticulate his comment may have been.) This page is pointless. --Bri 22:07, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for that insult. If you ask me, "teh" is an extant and widespread concept. Unlike the other entries on the now-gone Alternative spellings of "the" page, "teh" has a defined and well-understood meaning separate from its typo origins. Further, it has anomalous grammatical properties that this article explains in detail and well. While I'm at it, I'm disputing the merge suggestion, since it's is based on the assumption that this has no meaning beyond a typo - which the article debunks - AND the internet slang article has summaries and main article links for its the larger topics, such as this one. --Kizor 15:47, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

I disagree entirely. Aside from one single reference to Teh being the indonesian word for "tea", there is nothing of any worth that wouldn't be better suited to being in the Internet slang article under the already existent heading of typos. Teh is still not recognized as a real word or as slang as far as I am aware, yet somehow it merits a Wikipedia article because some "leet haxor" thinks that he's "teh r0xx0r" or some BS like that. I suggest this article be merged to a more appropriate one, per WP:BOLD. -- KirinX 16:07, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Let me explain what's wrong with your argument, KriniX:

1. Teh is not used as a typo.
2. You're misquoting WP:BOLD, which is about updatating pages. You're looking for WP:MERGE, which is across the road.
3. The moment you mentioned "leet haxor" and "teh r0xx0r", you failed it due to use of an ad hominen argument.
4. Actually, this would be better served if a summary section of this article and a {{main}} link is added to Internet slang#Examples, because this is an example of internet slang. You may recall that a precedent has already been set for this with noob.

I'm going with summary for teh win! :P —davidh.oz.au 01:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I actually looked up "teh" and was happy to find this article. "Teh" most certainly is not just a misspelling for "the" any more. KEEP, please. I vote for deleting the lame "Chinese" section though. It's not useful and is irrelevant to the rest of the article. Evangeline (talk) 15:58, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I can't help but notice how this usage is considered a good evolution of English. I am certain the pronunciations tih and tay are duo meanings. One is a preposition and the other an article or noun.2604:2D80:C013:0:CD59:9525:48DA:81EA (talk) 05:57, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Previous deletion nom

Teh text of this article has apparently been moved around quite a bit. I participated in a discussion when it was up for deletion way back in October 2004 (back then it was still called Votes for Deletion). It had already survived a VfD the previous May. I do believe that at at various points it redirected to Internet slang, Leet, and even The. This article's history for some reason doesn't show anything prior to 2006. I voted "Keep" back in '04 based on precedent, but it was a rather dubious article back then. Most of the content was people's recollections (read "WP:OR") of people using the word on Something Awful. Teh content now is definitely a bit more encyclopedic, what with the discussion on how the unusual grammatical structure of "teh *" has correlations in other languages. However, it's still unsourced, and I'd guess it would be almost unsourceable. I doubt anyone's ever written a reliable source on teh subject. Fishal 20:26, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Actually, there's at least one undergraduate (linguistics) thesis on leetspeak from the last 5-10 years I have saved on my harddrive, and where there's one, there's bound to be more... --User422 (talk) 21:05, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Citations added

I've rewritten part of the article including citations to references pointed out by Zagalejo in the AfD 2nd nom. I haven't deleted the substantial discussion of its grammar - frankly I find some of its comparisons with other languages dubious but the analysis seems at least partly correct. If someone does want to delete it can they please move it to the talk page instead of deleting it entirely, so it can be reworked later by someone with more time? --Zeborah 10:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

"Old" should be spelled "olde" - it's always been done that way! Anything contrary is the work of the Devil

I'd like you all to know that the one and only reason for my newly created membership of wikipedia is so I could support the continuation of this article. I suspected that it meant something subtly different to "the" and BOOM! all is revealed. P.S. I find the reaction of the word snobs just a touch offensive to the original author. Also, these 'people' assume that everyone would realise that this is an internet slang term. Given that "Teh" has started to have at least occasional use in spoken English, this article makes perfect sense to me!

Misuse of Teh

• Some people don't seem to know that teh is the, and seem to mistake it for a condescending IPA: [thː], and say things like "Why you hatin'? Teh." Erudecorp 05:36, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

The usage of the (ugh) 'word' TEH is hateful and condescending in origin (in English), so you have described apt usage. It is hateful towards the literate, and condescending towards the speaker of the word and any who may hear it. Some of the Hatred and Condescension is subverted when used as a humour device, but not all. 58.6.103.215 (talk) 03:31, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

On the one hand, I agree. On teh other, loosen up. David Spector 04:38, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Usage

I use and mostly say: "teh hawtness" (hottie spotted) teh pwnage (he owned you) it's teh crAAyziness (it's the most crazy thing) This usage is common, even is speech now, esp in US and UK and should be in the article. --81.105.245.251 (talk) 11:56, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

More accurate translation would be (in respective order, of course) "The hottest", "The ownage", "It's the craziest". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.129.239.143 (talk) 22:10, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

More is accurate in what sense? I, too, use "teh" in my spoken English and it is neither homophonic (homophonous?) with "the" nor the same in meaning (as this article goes on at length to say). --User422 (talk) 21:08, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Since you two use this in conversation, maybe you could tell us how you pronounce it. The article had two pronunciations, one not possible in English w/o extreme effort ([təh]; the [h] would drop off as soon as you use it with another word), and the other ambigous ([te]). Is the latter /tɛ/, or /teɪ/? kwami (talk) 01:44, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't use it in speech frequently, but when I do (or when I've heard others say it) it's been [tə], the same vowel sound as how we would typically say unstressed "the" - [ðə]. 69.176.150.5 (talk) 05:19, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. kwami (talk) 05:31, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Teh should be pronounced the same as the.--T3h 1337 b0y (talk) 08:04, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

I just wanted to add that TEH originated on a geek website in the summer of 2001 and spread accordingly. InvertedSuperNova (ISN) started it as a tool of resistance, and it has since become part of teh lexicon. ISN is also responsible for the popularity of ellipses which she used instead of punctuation, which has also spread. These are examples of internet memes. If you really want to be exact, you should credit ISN with this neologism.

Let me be polite about this: Citation needed! --Slashme (talk) 09:06, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

How in the world...

...does this have its own page in an encyclopedia? For a second there I thought I was on uncyclopedia. I'm still not convinced that I'm not. Nzseries1 (talk) 00:00, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

As mentioned quite thoroughly above, because "teh" is becoming more and more popular in speech, it deserves a page in an encyclopedic website such as Wikipedia. Just because such an expression is associated with a myriad of varying internet colloquialisms does not deem it unimportant. The purpose of an encyclopedia is to document important things, and because "teh" has become important, a page exists. However, if this page does fail to make a good argument for its existence, it should definitely be merged with any article concerning memes or the like. Jantaro (talk) 23:08, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Pronunciation

It is not common in spoken or written English outside technical or leetspeak circles, but when spoken, it is pronounced /tə/.

My experience bears this out; however, I feel the need to mention that the (only) time I have heard this word used in the media, it was pronounced in a deliberately forced/overenunciated way that included the H. In the Venture Bros. episode entitled "Victor, Echo, November," The Monarch says that a girl he met on a blog described his user icon as "teh-heh sex." --Hapax (talk) 18:58, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Seriously? It's pronounced "te"? Is that like "tee" as in "golf tee"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 19:37, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Page ratings

When I click View page ratings at the bottom of this page, the objectivity rating is 1263 out of 5. --82.170.113.123 (talk) 18:16, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

This is teh suck

Really? Really? An encyclopedic article on a misspelling? Because some nerds think it's cool? And it's become their weird insider slang? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME. If this article stands, it will prove the absolute idiocracy that Wikispedia has become. Just my 2 cents! Nerds! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.33.72.18 (talk) 16:24, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

You don't quite get it, eh? Yes, teh is weird nerd insider slang based on a misspelling; yes, some think it's cool, or rather kewl. This is not why an article exists on the topic. Readers come here to learn about something. We don't endorse that thing by writing the article.

Different people will ridicule, scorn, or just despise; any or all of:

• Moses
• America
• Joe Stalin
• Pokemon
• Perpetual motion
• Supply-side economics
• Tom Cruise
• Time Cube
• Cold fusion
• Autofellatio
• Egocentricity
• Rice

A rule of thumb is: If somebody bothered to write an article about it and others edit an article about it and others read about it and still others talk about it; then it is probably a bona fide topic of interest.

This is true because although it may be intrinsically trivial and silly, all those real human beings interested in it elevate it to a serious subject of study. This rule says nothing at all about whether you or I want it in the world or if we believe it exists, existed, might exist, or should exist. — Xiong熊talk* 22:42, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Well said. Endercase (talk) 14:56, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Hrnng rice is for losers!!!!111!!!one!!!!11!!... yeah i dont understand why rice is in that list lol --I said this! [insert witty meta-text on wikipedia signatures here] 02:07, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

Keyboard "explanation"

I see that previous the inclusion of the following "explanation" has been question:

"T and E are typed by the left hand on adjacent fingers in Qwerty, while the H is typed by the right, and in rapid typing, the T and E are often typed by the left hand in a drumming motion before the right can get the H in between the two."

While it is the case that in classically-trained touch typing the "E" and "T" are typed by the left hand, and the "H" the right, the vast majority of those so trained would not mistype "the" as "teh." It is, rather, an error made by predominently untrained individuals, whose keyboard use will be more defined by their dominent hand, and will rarely involve all four fingers on each hand. Nick Cooper (talk) 13:28, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

Undue weight, no

Couldn't we just link to urban dictionary lol. WikiOriginal-9 (talk) 19:10, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Should this really be the first page that people go to when they search "Teh"?

This seem s way, way, way less important then the chinese concept Teh, like in the Tao Te Ching. Wikipedia has that under the page De (Chinese), and that's fine, but searching "Teh" shouldn't go here as the first option.

Actually, this page really just should be deleted for being incredibly stupid and irrelevant, but that's just me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:D:6880:62:6D75:2C17:8B15:A167 (talk) 21:10, 29 May 2015 (UTC)