Meaning
What does SMH mean?
SMH is the often encountered internet abbreviation of “Shake My Head”. It is used as a means of expressing sentiments of disappointment and disillusionment, similar to facepalm.
An alternate, widely embraced meaning for the acronym is “So Much Hate”, although this one appeared years into the life of the expression.
Origin
What's the origin of SMH?
SMH was first defined as Shake my head on Urban Dictionary, in 2004. It quickly let roots on the web and spread like wildfire, across chatrooms and forums.
Spread & Usage
How did SMH spread?
With the 2010’s, the life of SMH had only started, with a hip hop song with the same title, from Jimmy Dade. The abbreviation had also made appearances in memes, as well as Reddit and 4chan.
It was around the early years of the decade, when people started using the acronym in an alternate sense, So Much Hate. It was even featured because of this, in a Vice article as well, called “What Does ‘Shaking My Head’ Even Mean Anymore?
SMH is today present in gifs, memes as well as the very site, SMHMeansWhat.
External resources
- Urban Dictionary – SMH
- VT Design Works – What Does SMH Mean?