There’s ‘curmudgeon,’ a word often associated with irritated, angry folks. And the word ‘feh,’ an expression of disgust, contempt or disapproval.
A curmudgeon saying ‘feh,’ about one thing and another, really is something. Because, a lot of folks pretty much are unflappable. They’re doing their own thing, in their daily life, raising a family, working, putting food on the table and a roof over the family’s head.
Curmudgeons, on the other hand, having been there and done that, as they say, might tend to be older, and probably, they have more time to stew about things. And they tend to say ‘feh’ way more than the Gen X demographic cohort, which is the one following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials, according to Wikipedia.
By the way, I had to look up ‘demographic cohort,’ which has to do with “an aggregate of individuals having in common a significant event in their life histories, such as year of birth (birth cohort) or year of marriage (marriage cohort).”
So, let’s say you’re in the Gen X cohort. You were born between 1965 and 1980. Would ‘feh’ be familiar to you? Maybe… especially if you’re birthdate was around the earliest years of that particular cohort. You’re in your late 50s, now, probably old enough to be somewhat aware of ‘feh.’
All bets are off, though, if you’re a Millennial, born from 1981 to 1996. If you were born in the early years of that cohort, you’re in your early to mid-forties. And if you’re in the Gen Z cohort, born from 1997 to 2012, as a baby boomer might say, you’re one of those young whippersnappers, probably thinking ‘feh’ is an abbreviation for something, not an actual word.
It’s a shame, though, if ‘feh,’ is lost on young demographic cohorts, since, curmudgeonly-speaking, it could apply so well these days to so much. Just hearing about local politics out Pagosa way, ‘feh’ could come to mind. And current events around the world could fuel a total resurgence of the word.
That little, short word can suggest so much, compared to Gen Z words. I looked some of them up, like ‘dank, for example, which means something of very high quality, or ‘big yikes,’ i.e. feeling embarrassed. Or ‘salty,’ when someone’s jealous. Or ‘cheugy,’ suggesting something isn’t trendy.
Really now! Do any of those Gen Z words compare to ‘feh?’
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.