SMH

FormsSMHes, SMHing, SMHed

1. 1
   interjectioninitialism

   Initialism of shaking my head.

   SMH, the committee ignored every suggestion we submitted.

   He showed up an hour late without even an apology. SMH.

   Note

   Three letters stand in for a gesture: the slow head shake of someone who disapproves and sees little point in saying more. It usually stands alone, before or after the complaint it comments on, rather than inside a sentence. The same letters can also mean scratching my head, which signals bafflement instead. The complaint around it is what tells a reader which head movement is meant.

2. 2
   interjectioninitialism

   Initialism of scratching my head.

   SMH, the meeting ended without anyone deciding anything at all.

   The bill was somehow higher than the original quote. SMH.

   Note

   Here the head is scratched, not shaken. The letters signal bewilderment or disbelief rather than reproach. Courtney Carbone's srsly Hamlet (2015) gives it to Hamlet at the graveside: "SMH. Who is going to be BURIED here?" The prince is puzzled, not scolding, and that difference is the whole of this reading.

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To shake one's head from side to side.

   Veteran teachers SMH at every new education fad that comes and goes.

   He kept SMHing through the entire presentation.

   Oppositenod

   Note

   The initialism turned into an ordinary verb that names the gesture itself. It inflects regularly while keeping its capitals: SMHes, SMHing, SMHed. The -es ending suits the spoken letter name "aitch", just as a word ending in a hissing sound takes -es. It takes a prepositional object with at: people SMH at a fad.

4. 4
   interjectioninitialism

   Initialism of so much hate.

   SMH, this new update broke every feature I actually used.

   They tore down the old theater for another parking lot. SMH.

   Note

   Usually an exaggeration. So much hate rarely reports real hatred. It works more like a theatrical groan at a modest letdown, such as a broken update or a demolished landmark. Read it as mock outrage, and use it the same way. Aimed at a serious grievance, the hyperbole can sound flippant.

5. 5
   proper nounAustraliainitialism

   Initialism of The Sydney Morning Herald.

   The SMH broke the story before any other outlet picked it up.

   He clipped the SMH editorial and pinned it to the office wall.

   Note

   An Australian abbreviation. In Australia these letters name The Sydney Morning Herald, and they keep the article the full title carries: the SMH reported, the SMH's front page. Outside Australia, readers are likely to think of the online interjection first. When writing for an international audience, spell out the paper's name on first mention.

6. 6
   proper nouninitialism

   Initialism of Society for Military History.

   He joined the SMH while finishing his doctorate in military history.

   The SMH publishes a peer-reviewed journal read by scholars worldwide.

   Note

   Here the letters name a scholarly body, and society carries its sense of an association of people who meet around a common interest, not a whole community. Each letter is spoken separately, S-M-H. As the name of an organization it takes the article (the SMH), which sets it apart from the online "shaking my head", where the same three letters stand alone as a reaction.

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