3 ms·

This is unrelated but I've been noticing recently a great deal of comments both on HN and Reddit starting with "Huh?" Is this a developing slang or have I just

by ajdude 2y ago

This is unrelated but I've been noticing recently a great deal of comments both on HN and Reddit starting with "Huh?" Is this a developing slang or have I just been under a rock and only noticed it now?

dgoldstein0 2y ago
Under a rock. That's been a common interjection for decades in casual conversation, at least in the US. I can't say for certain about it's commonality online in written form though.
- eesmith 2y ago
  Agreed. As an interjection, consider Scooby's 'Huh?' sound from the early 1970s cartoon series.
dotancohen 2y ago
I believe that it means "I disagree". It seems common on platforms where language is not sophisticated, but rarely do I see these on HN.
- wlonkly 2y ago
  It's worse than that, it's feigned surprise. "I disagree" is at least intellectually honest, "Huh?" is pretending that the position is so far off that they couldn't even understand it. I learned the term "feigned surprise" from Recurse Center's social rules[1]. It's related to, but not exactly the same as, that well-known XKCD about "today's 10000", too[2]. [1] https://www.recurse.com/social-rules https://www.recurse.com/social-rules [2] https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
  - hollerith 2y ago
    Why is it feigned? Why can't it be (mild) genuine surprise?
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Is this a developing slang or have I just been under a rock and only noticed it now? It communicates disagreement and pushback to perceived aloofness. Its archetypal form would be an academic making a Monty Python Witch Trial argument being refuted by an average Joe. You generally don't see it followed by a rigorous intellectual argument, because by its framing it's rejecting intellectualism. Put another way, it's a call to common sense. In reality, it tends to reflect an inchoate argument,.

3 ms·

This is unrelated but I've been noticing recently a great deal of comments both on HN and Reddit starting with "Huh?" Is this a developing slang or have I just

by ajdude 2y ago

dgoldstein0 2y ago
Under a rock. That's been a common interjection for decades in casual conversation, at least in the US. I can't say for certain about it's commonality online in written form though.
- eesmith 2y ago
  Agreed. As an interjection, consider Scooby's 'Huh?' sound from the early 1970s cartoon series.
dotancohen 2y ago
I believe that it means "I disagree". It seems common on platforms where language is not sophisticated, but rarely do I see these on HN.
- wlonkly 2y ago
  It's worse than that, it's feigned surprise. "I disagree" is at least intellectually honest, "Huh?" is pretending that the position is so far off that they couldn't even understand it. I learned the term "feigned surprise" from Recurse Center's social rules[1]. It's related to, but not exactly the same as, that well-known XKCD about "today's 10000", too[2]. [1] https://www.recurse.com/social-rules https://www.recurse.com/social-rules [2] https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
  - hollerith 2y ago
    Why is it feigned? Why can't it be (mild) genuine surprise?
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Is this a developing slang or have I just been under a rock and only noticed it now? It communicates disagreement and pushback to perceived aloofness. Its archetypal form would be an academic making a Monty Python Witch Trial argument being refuted by an average Joe. You generally don't see it followed by a rigorous intellectual argument, because by its framing it's rejecting intellectualism. Put another way, it's a call to common sense. In reality, it tends to reflect an inchoate argument,.