As I have been going through the process of reprinting my old CD reviews for The Weekly Riff webzine (written in 2008 – 2010) for this site, I noticed that I used the term “meh” a lot in my reviews.
In my defence, I am not using it as a cop out or to be lazy. I used it since I couldn’t think of a better way to say the following in a succinct manner:
I did not find this piece of music interesting or remarkable enough to have an opinion. I didn’t feel a strong like or dislike for it. I just can’t think of anything nice to say either and using “just OK” or “weak” or “borderline” to describe the piece under review wouldn’t be any better. Hence, just MEH. I figured it was more polite than trying to pander.
One will notice that when I feel strongly enough about a piece of music in either a negative way or have some clear opinions about what I reviewed, I would say so.
Long live the term “meh”! Love it or hate it, it is the most perfect term when used in the context I’ve used it in. IMHO of course.