Ryan Lochte's "Jeah" Explained—and Your Other Burning Questions: Answered!

In short, swimmer Ryan Lochte uses the catchy phrase in the same way the Smurfs used the word "smurf"...for everything

By Leslie Gornstein Aug 10, 2012 11:30 AMTags

Regarding Michael Lochte's catchword: What is "jeah"?
—MaddiesMom, Ohio, via the inbox

Why tell you when I can show you in the video above? While you're educating yourself, let's move on to some of your other, most burning-est, questions of the week!

Currently living in "London 2012" and loving the Olympics. But when did medal become a verb? Who decides?
—Ax Bell, via Twitter

You know who decides? Dead dictionary people, that's who. Sit down, son, because I am about to go very Oxford English Dictionary on you. According to that fine institution of wordsmiths, "medalling," as in, winning a medal, goes back to at least 1822, when Lord Byron used the word as a verb in a letter.

Did I just medal in Olympic researching? Well, before I podium (that's apparently a verb too) let's keep going.

I'm confused about people saying NBC messed up the opening ceremonies. As long as I've watched the Olympics, they've always taken commercial breaks, so of course stuff is gonna get missed.
—Martini M, via Facebook

It's not that stuff got missed. Some viewers objected to what got missed. Specifically, the objections were about not showing a tribute to fallen victims of the so-called 7/7 attacks in London. NBC (of which E! Online is a part) defended the decision by noting that the tribute was not a fit for an American TV audience.

How much do the reality stars of Big Brother get paid to participate in the show each summer? I know there is a grand prize winner, but what about the people who get eliminated a few weeks into the game?
—Kyle R., via Facebook

Per reports, contestants get about $750 a week as long as they're in the running. The grand prize is $500,000, while the runner-up gets $50,000 and the Viewer's Choice winner receives a $25,000 consolation prize.

Poor Lolo Jones. I saw her crying about the media's treatment of her. Why are they being sexist?
—Claudia, Wales, via the inbox

You speak of the breakdown Jones suffered on the Today show in reaction to a blunt assessment of her talents in the New York Times. My take is this: Don't volunteer information about your virginity, use the media to holler at hot single guys, pose in nothing but ribbons and expect people to focus on your track times. If Jones wants a different image with the public, she needs to start with her own actions.