Just in case you’ve seen it and haven’t a clue what it means.
Language has always evolved over time, that’s nothing new to hear, from the earliest days of mankind, our language has evolved as our society has; changing, morphing, altering, incorporating, modifying constantly.
One of the biggest shifts of recent times – in fact possibly of all time – has been the impact of the internet on communication and linguistic exchange. Unlike previous times, and because of the technology being unlimited by geolocation, changes in language relating to the digital realm have been global in scale and reach, penetrating wildly different cultures, languages, economies, and social classes.
The Language of Social Media
Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram has taken this to a new level, with the compressed messaging and instantaneous nature of communicating therein that has led to acronyms and contractions becoming de facto words in their own right, instantly recognizable to active daily users and bewildering to newbies.
A few have even managed to break out of the social media bubble and become universally recognized short-hand even to those not versed in online etiquette, such as LOL (laughing out loud), JK (just kidding), or even ASAP (as soon as possible).
One of the most prominent social media ‘shortcuts’ to appear in recent years has been SMH, and granted, if you’re not a native fluent speaker of social media-speak, you can just chalk it up to being more Gen Z gobbledygook, but if a close friend, work colleague, or family member uses it in a text, you might be more inclined in wanting to know what it means precisely.
In this article we’ll give an explanation as to what it stands for, when it can be used, and what its origins are.
May God have mercy on our souls as we descend, Alice in Wonderland-like, down the social media rabbit hole…
What does it mean?
In short, SMH stands for “shaking my head”… a gesture of disapproval, disappointment, or disbelief. Instead of writing out an entire spiel on what horrors they’ve just encountered, it’s so much quicker and easier to just contract it to a three-letter acronym and everyone knows exactly what you mean!
Where did it originate?
SMH, like most online terms, began in the early days of the internet, circa early-mid 1990s on online chat rooms and message boards like AOL Online and MSN Chat. What began as a sort of nerd language transcended that boundary in the wake of widespread internet proliferation and penetration of popular culture, and especially with the rise of social media.
When is it used?
It’s used, as mentioned previously, as a short-hand to express a feeling of dismay, disappointment, or disbelief. It can also – and is – often used as a punchline to a social media posting when someone wants to essentially ridicule or demean something else they’ve seen, read, or shared online.
In fact, use of SMH jumped to new levels in the wake of the (disputed) result of the U.S. 2020 Presidential election, wherein rivals of candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden goaded each other relentlessly online with dismissive taunts and disapproving posts… and use of SMH jumped by over 65% in November/December that year.
As common as it in use for social media, it is nonetheless not wise to use such an informal nomenclature in official correspondences, such glib short-hand should remain in casual social media and online conversations lest you inadvertently offend someone in authority and perhaps lose out on a deserved professional opportunity.
Stay safe online and be nice to each other, okay?
