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Annvan Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary
blah-blah no longer negative?
I'm not sure if this is the right spot to post this question, but here goes...
In informal spoken English I've always associated "blah-blah" with something being negative, i.e. boring or tedious. Here in Holland I quite often hear the Dutch using "blah-blah" when speaking to mean "and so on"/ "etc., etc." I just assumed this was a 'Dutch mis-use' of the English language. However, I've recently heard fellow native English speakers also using "blah-blah" in this non-negative sense. So, my question is has "blah-blah" indeed come to replace "and so on (and so forth)" or "etc., etc."?
In informal spoken English I've always associated "blah-blah" with something being negative, i.e. boring or tedious. Here in Holland I quite often hear the Dutch using "blah-blah" when speaking to mean "and so on"/ "etc., etc." I just assumed this was a 'Dutch mis-use' of the English language. However, I've recently heard fellow native English speakers also using "blah-blah" in this non-negative sense. So, my question is has "blah-blah" indeed come to replace "and so on (and so forth)" or "etc., etc."?
Top answer
both meanings are valid
- both meanings are valid
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7 Answers
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Perhaps this is an American thing, but I have almost always heard it with THREE blahs.
blah-blah-blah
blah-blah-blah
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I would agree that "blah blah blah" isn't always negative. It sometimes seems to signify "things I'm skipping for the sake of brevity".
MrP
MrP
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I believe it depends on the context. While 3 blahs may be used for brevity purposes in the latter part of a sentence, someone using "blah blah blah" by itself seems to have negative connotations, especially if the speaker also rolls his or her eyes!
As for "yada yada yada" - for what it's worth, be careful when using it in Japan. Yada = "I don't want to," and not in a very nice way, e
As for "yada yada yada" - for what it's worth, be careful when using it in Japan. Yada = "I don't want to," and not in a very nice way, e
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Hi AnnVan,
I also think both meanings are correct, and also I know quite a few Brits who say " daadi daadi da" in place of "Blah- Blah-Blah"
I also think both meanings are correct, and also I know quite a few Brits who say " daadi daadi da" in place of "Blah- Blah-Blah"
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