[Ads-l] Query about the origin of a meme

[Ben Zimmer]

We discussed this a couple of years ago, and I cited an SNL example
from Amy Poehler back in 2004 (though it's not quite canonical: "said
no one" without the "ever").

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2013-March/126378.html

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/04/04bupdate.phtml
Britney Spears is recording a rap song about the recent controversies
in her life. "I can't wait to hear that!" said no one.


On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 9:34 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> Thanks, Garson.  So it peaked in 2013.  No mention of non-internet usage
> like the "Weekend Update" occurrences I mentioned, but I guess even SNL
> runs a distant second in the era of the twitterverse.  In any case,
> between retro-NOT, sarcastic "I don't think", and now "said no one
> ever", there seems to be both a need and a short shelf-life for these
> retroactive cancellation devices.
>
>> On May 1, 2015, at 9:05 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>>
>> Here is a link to an interesting analysis:
>>
>> Website: Know Your Meme
>>
>> Article title: ...Said No One Ever
>>
>> Article subtitle: Part of a series on Internet Slang.
>>
>>http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/said-no-one-ever
>>
>> On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 7:59 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>>> ...namely, "...said no one ever" (or variants, e.g. "...said nobody
>>> ever").  It strikes me as similar to at least one use of the 90s-ism
>>> (yes, as Jon and Jesse showed us, it's really an *18*90s-ism) "Not!", or
>>> "retro-NOT" as I like to call it.  Here's urbandictionary's entry:
>>>
>>>http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=3Dsaid+no+one+ever
>>>
>>> I first noticed it on SNL's Weekend Update, possibly from Cecily Strong,
>>> but no doubt (like "...NOT", which wasn't invented on SNL. either by
>>> Wayne's World in the early 90s or by Steve Martin in the 1978 Nerds
>>> Science Fair routine) it was already lurking, maybe in the twitter
>>> sphere.

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