ViraScoop
On August 8th, Ken Norton, a partner at Google Ventures, tweeted a joke about nuclear winter (ha ha, it’s funny because in this current political climate, nuclear winter is a distinct possibility) with the punchline, “Hold my avocado,” a millennial twist on the popular “Hold my beer” joke. The phrase quickly went viral, and the next day, TIME hailed it as “the viral catchphrase millennials have been looking for.” But millennials, it turns out, are not in the market for a “viral catchphrase.” The tweet and subsequent article have drawn enormous amounts of salt from those who have had it with the reductive millennial jokes.
Many millennials are still nursing an avocado-related rage-hangover from earlier this summer, when Australian millionaire Tim Gurner suggested that millennials can’t afford down payments on homes because they spend so much money on avocado toasts, despite the pesky “facts” that show they have the greatest increase in their savings rate compared to every other generation.
Part of what is so tiresome about the various “millennials looove avocados!” jokes isn’t just that they’re unoriginal (they are) and lazy (they are), it’s that they continue to portray millennials as an entitled and self-centered generation more concerned with building its personal brand than engaging with the world around them. And sure, some of them are. But they are also the largest, most educated, and most diverse generation in American history, and they’ve been saddled with a mountain of social, political, and environmental miscalculations from their parents and grandparents.
So, no. Millennials aren’t looking for a new viral catchphrase, but thanks anyway. Here is Norton’s original tweet:
Millennial: your generation got houses and jobs
Boomer: yes but we lived with constant fear of nuclear winter
Millennial: hold my avocado
— Ken Norton (@kennethn) August 8, 2017
And here are some of the saltiest tweets from the much-maligned generation.
"Hold my avocado" is gonna be the revolution's rallying cry.
— Koba🇸🇾🇰🇵Respectr (@SonMcGillicuddy) August 10, 2017
As a millennial I am perfectly fine with #holdmyavocado being my new catch phrase. pic.twitter.com/bempIyQWAV
— WickedBitchoftheWest (@westcoastpuffin) August 10, 2017
No.
⚡️ “Is 'hold my avocado' the new millennial catchphrase?”https://t.co/a9LywgjzZZ
— Arti Patel 👀 (@artipatel) August 10, 2017
nah, no one’s saying hold my avocado man
— Greg Howard (@greghoward88) August 10, 2017
Have you ever said "hold my avocado"?
— Bobby Blanchard (@bobbycblanchard) August 10, 2017
Some questioned the state of modern journalism…
Time: "Hold my avocado… the catchphrase Millennials have been looking for."
Millennials: "Oh, that magazine from the dentist in the 90s."
— Chris (@MixingChris) August 10, 2017
Someone got paid to write this article https://t.co/WH3nd7JROf
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 10, 2017
hold my avocado toast, i'm going to pay my mortgage
— Lars Gotrich 🍷🌊 (@totalvibration) August 10, 2017
Hold my avocado while I avoid buying houses and diamonds https://t.co/4uSQ8BLwDl
— Andy (@CanadianFanboy) August 10, 2017
I've eaten avocados in every meal this week and am now up to my eyeballs in student debt with two mortgages! #millennial #holdmyavocado
— Caldwell Flores (@Caldwellflores) August 10, 2017
I wouldn't trust anyone to hold my avocado. Genuinely.
— Gemma Thomas (@gemma_thomas7) August 10, 2017
Anyone who says "hold my avocado" is 100% a cop
— Jeph Tutorials (@seeitseeit) August 10, 2017
"Say fellow Mille-nnial, please "hold my avocado" while I attempt this excellent skateboarding maneuver"
— Julius Ceejer (@C33J_) August 10, 2017
hold my avocado while i try and make it through the economy you destroyed and save the environment you don't care about https://t.co/ftmSDFMQ4Z
— Miguel Ruiz (@ruizmiguel_) August 10, 2017
God forbid if anyone says "hold my avocado" to me.
— Tony DeFranco (@TonyDeFranco) August 10, 2017
And others were just in it for the jokes…
"Remember the Alamo"
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"
"I have not yet begun to fight"
"Hold my avocado" https://t.co/8W93LaGzzV
— Mike Glenn (@mrglenn) August 10, 2017
Nordstrom: We now sell dirt stained pants for $300
Prada: Hold my avocado toast pic.twitter.com/hgFw3yJvGH— Dalton Johnson (@daltondjohn) June 30, 2017
Best part about my tweet is that it pissed off Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials equally.
— Ken Norton (@kennethn) August 9, 2017
h/t Bustle
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