Homer Simpson Famous D'oh Catchphrase Has A Surprising Unscripted Origin

In the interview, O'Brien recalled the arguments in the writer's room as to the spelling of Homer's eminent ejaculation. O'Brien said many staffers wrote it as the "d'oh!" "A female deer," jokes Castellaneta. Castellaneta, however, remembers first encountering the phenomenon in an early storyline - back when "The Simpsons" was an animated segment on "The Tracy Ullman Show" - when it was written simply as the direction voice [annoyed growl].

Indeed, it seems that, even to this day, "d'oh!" is written in the scripts as [annoyed grunt]. Groening left it up to Castellaneta to figure out what an [annoyed grunt] would sound like. Castellaneta, digging deep into popular culture, remembered a famous character from the old Laurel and Hardy shorts played by comedian James Finlayson. Finlayson had a particular annoyed growl, which Castellaneta mimicked. It's a "d'oh", but it's more of a "da–!" interrupted by a glottal stop, and followed by an "oooh!" The "Da–" part was, Castellaneta pointed out, a way for the character to avoid saying "damn" on 1930s television. "D'oh" is thus a "damn" interrupted by an "Oh!"

O'Brien happily points out that saying "damn" on TV doesn't seem to be a problem anymore, since Castellaneta just said it openly. Castellaneta replies with a "F'oh!"