About

Can I Say Something Without People Getting Mad is a catchphrase most often used on Twitter alongside a photo of someone, usually controversial, to imply that you find them attractive. The phrase, which is also used ironically, increased in virality on Twitter throughout 2023, inspiring numerous viral posts by July of that year.

Origin

The earliest known post to use a version of the phrase "Can I say something without people getting mad" in the given context was posted by Twitter^[1] user @glittergal01 on January 15th, 2023, writing, "Can i say something without y’all getting mad……." in reference to a video of Joe Burrow smoking a cigar, garnering around two likes in six months. One of the earliest notably popular examples was posted by Twitter^[2] user @_pem_pem on June 17th in reference to a photograph of Newt Gingrich, garnering over 5,100 likes in a month (shown below).

Spread

The phrase became increasingly popular throughout June and July 2023. On June 19th, 2023, Twitter^[3] user @aidanthereup posted the phrase alongside a photo of Andy Cohen, garnering over 16,400 likes in a month (shown below, left). On July 7th, Twitter^[4] user @francisxwolf posted the phrase alongside a photo of the 'That Person Is Not Real' Plane Woman, garnering over 12,300 likes in a week (shown below, right).

On July 12th, Twitter^[5] user @zachsilberberg posted an image of a young Hillary Clinton under the phrase, garnering over 20,200 likes in two days (shown below). On July 13th, Twitter^[6] user @growing_daniel posted the phrase alongside a photo of Margot Robbie, garnering over 11,600 likes in a day. On July 14th, a Redditor asked for the context of the phrase on /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[7]

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References