Teh

This article is about Internet slang terminology; for information on the Indonesian drink, see Teh botol; for information on the Hokkien/Malay surname, see Zheng (surname).

"TEH SEXX" is a common misspelling of the, originating from a common typographical error. This typo eventually became a part of Internet slang. When used in spoken language, it is sometimes pronounced tʰəh.

As a typo

File:Poster with mistake in The.jpg

A compromising typo in poster

"Teh" is one of the words in the auto-correct lists of spellcheckers in word processing applications such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org Writer, Pages, or Corel WordPerfect. T and E are typed by the left hand on adjacent fingers in Qwerty, while the H is typed by the right, and in rapid typing, the T and E are often typed by the left hand in a drumming motion before the right can get the H in between the two. Overcompensating with the right hand can result in the misspelling "hte", which is also found in auto-corrects.

As slang

Along with "pwn", "teh" is a standard feature of leetspeak. Originating from the common typo, it has become conventionalized in a variety of contexts. It is often used ironically, and can be used to mock someone's lack of techie knowledge or skills, as an insult, or to reinforce a group's elitism.

As slang, grammatical usage of the word teh is somewhat fluid. Besides being an alternate spelling of the, teh also has grammatical properties not generally applied to the; in general, it is used somewhat like an intensified "the". The spelling derived from a typographical mistake seen as the symptom of excitement, much the same as the interjection of the numeral one between exclamation marks. It can be used with proper names, as in "teh John"; compare the usage of the definite article in Greek: ο Ιωαννης (o Ioannes), literally "the John". A similar usage comes from colloquial German, where the definite article is used as a specifier to modify the noun: "Der Johann", again literally, "the John", could be used to identify John, and not Phil, as the subject performing a certain action. In Latin, the similar word ille and its declensions, which was at first an intensified article usually translated as "that", is the source of the derivations of the simple word for "the" and the personal pronouns (he, etc.) in the languages derived from Latin.

Furthermore, teh is sometimes used in front of a verb in a novel form of gerund. The best-known example of this is the word "suck". Thus, the phrase "this sucks" can be converted into "this is teh suck"; the word pwn can be similarly converted (teh pwn). The latter phrase is primarily used by the computer gaming community, and often intended humorously.

In English, "the" can be used as an intensifier for the superlative form of adjectives; compare "that is best" and "that is the best." Teh has a similar use as an intensifier for unmodified adjectives, generally marking a sarcastic tone. For example, "that is teh lame" translates as "that is the lamest." This is similar to the use of the definite article lo in Spanish. For example, "Soy lo mejor" (I am the best) and "I am teh good". This contrasts with the use of the in English to construct mass nouns (substantives) from adjectives, as in "blessed are the meek," where the meek denotes a class of people who are meek, or perhaps teh humble.

Family name

"Teh" is also the family name of many Chinese people.

See also

• The
• Leetspeek