It’s mid-October and I was beginning to fear the only noteworthy meme this month was going to be the reactions to the plague known as Rick and Morty fans crying over Szechuan sauce. Then, a wonderful light shone through the darkness. “First of all,” your sauce that Vogue posted a recipe for will be back in December.
The meme is extra special because the first account of this meme to go viral was on Oct. 1. Talk about spooky coincidences. What began as many tweets surrounding the idea of patronizing and paranoid partners, in only 18 days, has even caught enough traction for Netflix and Wingstop to create their own takes on the meme. And everyone knows a meme has made it big when companies decide to make their own (albeit cringy) variations of them.
While it may be the month of spook, many people have set aside some time to take this meme and put friends, family and significant others on blast.
Due to the saving nature of the meme world that “first of all” has serviced us, it’s garnered some points in my book. However, it takes me back to a certain scene from The Office that spawned a similar phrase. On top of that, I can predict that the phrase will blow up in popularity so much that it will be more overused than the amount of times I say “lit” in a day (hint: it’s a lot).
Because of this inevitable overuse of the phrase, “first of all” receives a lower score. It’s straight savage factor, however, saves it from plummeting completely. It’s fair to rate “first of all” at a comfy 2.5/5 this month. Here are some prime examples of the meme in its prime:
