Homer Simpson is 'most influential wordsmith since Shakespeare'

The Simpsons has brought us incessantly lasting phrases like "eat my shorts!" and "d'oh," but which has been the most influential on the English language?

Today Translations, a London-based translation company with a network of 2,600 linguists in over 60 countries, conducted a survey of language experts to decide on "the greatest contribution to the English language made by The Simpsons." The winner was Homer's catchphrase, "d'oh," the vocal ejaculation of irritation often aimed at his son Bart. The word beat out other phrases like Bart's "yoink," "craptacular," "meh," and "eat my shorts!" "Meh" might be noticed for its constant presence on internet forums, chat rooms, and social media sites as a way to convey a feeling of absolute indifference. It has even been part of the lolcats Internet meme. And it all started with The Simpsons. Today Translation polled 320 linguists across the world to weigh in on the survey that decided "d'oh" was The Simpsons' greatest contribution to the English language. "Homer Simpson must be the most influential wordsmith since Shakespeare", said Jurga Zilinskiene, CEO of Today Translations. "And thanks to The Simpsons, combined with the power of the Internet to spread new words, ours must be the greatest golden age for new words since Shakespeare's own." In fact, the interjection "d'oh" has become so popular that it can now be found in both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford-English dictionaries.