Underneath my yellow skin

Category Archives: Internet Shenanigans

Internet memes/slang I like (and/or dislike)

I am an internet person. I spend a lot of time online. I know some of the slang by osmosis (and some of the memes, though I usually seem to be a few years behind). There are several memes and slang that I really like. I want to talk about them just because I can.

I was reading an Ask A Manager post about the diet police in the office (which, ugh, just no), and someone used my one of my favorite internet memes. Someone was explaining how someone in their office would get really into abasing herself for being fat and agonizing over eating a cooke or whatever (which is sadly common for women in a society that is horrid to fat women), and someone else commeted, “You don’t have to participate, Cathy.”

This is one of my favorite internet memes. The snarky side comment with a random name attached to it at the end. I don’t know why, but this absolutely sends me. Especially as the name is usually such a bland and boring one. The blander, the better. I think because it makes it universal.

Another one is saying “I love that for you” after someone makes any kind of comment. I like this one because it covers a wide array of situations. It’s very much like the Southern ‘bless your heart’ in that it can be both sincere and scathing. If someone is celebrating something like a new job or pregnant, then it’s said in sincerity. “Oh, what a great opportunity/news, and I love that for you!” This is used for friends, mostly.

I will admit, I like the other version better because it suits my personality. It’s when someone shows their entire ass, and you say it to express your disapproval. So, let’s say someone goes off on, say queer people and rant about how they (the queers) are all going to hell. And they didn’t know I was queer as they were going on and on about it. At the end, if I wanted to use this phrase, it would be in the context of, “It looks like you’re finally showing your true self. And I love that for you.” In a tone that says I want nothing more to do with them.

Another is when someone makes a decision that is clearly a self-destructive one. Then, you can say, “Well, you flame-bombed that bridge to hell. And I love that for you.” It’s hard to describe in words, exactly, but it’s a way of saying, “That was a shitty decision, but you do you.”

Which, by the way, is another of my favorite internet slangs. “You do you.” I’m not sure why, but it just conveys such a paradox of judgment and nonjudgment. On the one hand, you’re telling someone to do whatever you want. But the tone for this one is, “I wouldn’t advise it, but I won’t try to stop you from doing it, either.” It’s so pass-ag!


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A hot take on Hot Ones

There’s an internet show called Hot Ones, and it’s about eating hot wings. That’s a pretty disingenuous description, so let me expand on that. There are hot wings, yes, but that’s just the backdrop for the actual show. Sean Evans is the host, and there are ten wings in front of him. He has a celebrity guest on the other side of the table (sometimes two if they’re paired in any way) who also has ten wings in front of them (or five if it’s a shortened episode). He asks them questions as they eat the wings, starting from mild hot sauce to ‘why the fuck am I eating this?’ hot sauce.

I don’t know how I started watching. Maybe someone showed me an episode, but more likely I saw an episode online somewhere. Either on someone’s social media or because I went down a rabbit hole, and I was hooked. I watched several episodes based on the guest. There are ten seasons, so I was hopping all over the place. I will note that the interviewer is easy on the eyes in a working class, I will kick your ass kind of way.

Before I get deeper into the show, let me share with you my love for the hot sauce. Or rather, how I used to love hot sauce. My brother and I had a friendly competition to see who could give each other the hottest hot sauce. It morphed into one of us giving the other a bottle for Christmas. Same wrapping paper every year, and maybe even the same box. It was fun, and I would obsessively look for the hottest sauce. I don’t remember the year, and I can’t find it on the Googles, but it’s at least ten years ago. Probably more like fifteen. Anyway, I found this bottle of hot sauce that had just come out, and it claimed to be the hottest hot sauce ever.

It had the picture of a nuclear bomb on it, and it was, indeed, called ‘Da Bomb’. Tagline: Beyond Insanity. I bought two bottles–one for myself–and I made a huge pot of chili and put three drops in it. It even suggested you put one drop in for a pot of chili. I was macho, though, and I put in three drops. Big mistake. My throat closed, and I could feel the heat coursing through my veins. It was the most pain I’d felt in my life, and I couldn’t even finish the pot. I gave the other bottle to my brother with a warning. A few days later, he informed me that the competition was off.

As a side note, when the Carolina Reaper was invented in 2013, my brother sent me an email saying, “Competition back on?” I laughed and declined because I was off that tip by then. I wanted flavor with my spice, and when it’s that hot, you can’t taste anything but the heat. Da Bomb in particular was nasty. It was nothing but heat, and it wasn’t even good heat. It was acrid and vinegary, and there was no pleasure with the pain.


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