blah

Meanings

Noun

• Nonsense; drivel; idle, meaningless talk.
• A general or ambiguous feeling of discomfort, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, boredom, mild depression, etc.

Adjective

• Dull; uninteresting; insipid.
• Low in spirit or health; down.

Verb

• To utter idle, meaningless talk.

Related

Similar words

• bosh, bombast, bunkum, claptrap, eyewash, fustian, rant, hooey, humbug, rubbish, twaddle
• malaise

Origin

• Sense “Idle, meaningless talk” (1940), probably imitative or echoic in origin. Perhaps, but cf Greek "barbarbar” ‘unintelligible sounds’ (Grillo 1989:174).
• Adjective sense “bland, dull” (1919), perhaps influenced by French blasé.
• The blahs (“boredom, mild depression”) first attested 1969; extension of adjective sense and influenced by term blues.
• Also may be connected with bleat
• GRILLO, R.D. 1989. Dominant languages: Language and hierarchy in Britain and France. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.