SMH Meaning And How You Should Use It


If you are a millennial, you have heard the word SMH written somewhere. You might have heard someone use it during a conversation, and there is a chance that you did not know what this means, so you did not know what to reply. We are here to let you know everything there is to know about the word ‘SMH’

What SMH Means

‘SMH’ means ‘Shaking my head’. It is used to signify disappointment or displeasure at something or someone. It can also be used to indicate and suggest that the person is highly disgusted at an action someone took. Most of the times it is used when someone does something extremely stupid, and the person who witnesses it or gets to know about it is speechless at the thought of it. So he uses ‘SMH’ to express the fact that he has no words in the world to show how displeased he is by this action.

In easy words, SMH is used when someone is being thoughtless and irresponsible, and doing things that he is not supposed to do.

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How Should You Use It

If you’re wondering how you can utilize this acronym in your daily conversations, we’re here to help you out with it. SMH can be used if you find something that shakes you up, or fails your expectations. You can write SMH in a text message or tweet it out to the world. You can even use it in a meme to get ahead of the game.

One rule of the thumb is to use SMH either at the start of the sentence, or at the end of it. It is preferable that you use it at the end to make sure your sentence fragment is correct.

Here are some examples to help you explain how SMH can be used better.

  • Example #1

“My aunt got drunk and ruined the Christmas dinner again this year, smh”

In this instance, the person is using SMH to express his utter disappointment in his aunt for ruining a good possible experience for him and his family by getting drunk.

  • Example #2

“This week was tough, I cannot believe I let work get on to me. Smh”

In this example, the person is extremely depressed about the fact at his week was tough, so he uses Smh at the end of his sentence to denote that his life is hard and he has let his work get on to him and ruin his self-esteem. In this case, you can notice that the person has not used the word ‘again’. This means that the incident has not occurred before, it has occurred for the first time, and he is just expressing his disappointment over it.

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  • Example #3

Someone else: “Hi, I ran out of gas so I have to cancel lunch with you today. Hope you don’t mind”

You: “SMH, alright as you wish”

This example shows a direct reaction to something someone has directly said to you. You’re using ‘SMH’ in a direct response, stating that you are disappointed over the fact that you have to cancel lunch with someone today. This direct use tells him that even if you have written ‘as you wish’, but you want to make sure that the other person is aware that you are displeased with this sudden cancellation of lunch and the fact that his car has run out of gas at this ungodly time.

  • Example #4

In a meme: “SMH girl if you get a man to pay your bills you’re in the bottom tier”

SMH in a meme is used a little differently. In this case it is used to state disappointment in a girl who is using his man to pay his bills, and is not directed towards the person reading, but to the girl who is inside that meme.

How you should not use it

You should not use smh when you are expressing your condolences or sorrow at something very sad that someone else is going through. You should also avoid using this on the news of someone’s passing away, or to pay your respects for someone who has passed away

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  • Example:

“Smh your grandmother has passed away, please accept my condolences”

This is not a right use of the acronym and shows insincerity towards the commiseration offered.

Now that you know what smh means, use it in your text messages wisely.


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