Flop Era

About

Flop Era or In My Flop Era is a slang term used to describe a period of time when an artist, typically a musician, is only producing flops. It is also used more widely to describe organizations and individuals as going through a tough time or period of disappointment. The term's origin is unknown, but it appeared online as early as 2008. It is commonly used self-deprecatingly and ironically in memes.

Origin

The exact origin of the term "flop era" is unknown. An early example of it was first used on Twitter^[1] by writer Jeff Foust on July 22nd, 2008, to suggest a trade by the Washington Nationals might take them out of their flop era, although this is unlikely the term's origin.

Spread

The term became increasingly popularized throughout the 2010s, particularly on Twitter. In April 2012, Deadspin^[2] published an article suggesting LeBron James ushered in a flop era for the playoffs. In 2014, numerous Twitter^[3][4] users posted about Lady Gaga being in her flop era. On February 8th, 2015, Twitter^[5] user @santiggz tweeted an image of Gaga captioned "When you win a Grammy in your 'flop era'" referencing her Grammy win (shown below).

On July 12th, 2021, pop musician Billie Eilish posted a video to TikTok^[6] in response to people suggesting she's in her flop era, gaining over 75.5 million views in five months (shown below).

The term is also prominent in memes on TikTok, often used ironically and self-deprecatingly to joke that the user is in their flop era (examples shown below, left and right).

On November 6th, 2021, Twitter^[9] user @DJGamecubeCon posted a version of the Jesse, What Are You Talking About meme using the term as well as the slang term "It's Giving," gaining over 91,400 likes and 12,000 retweets in a month (shown below).

On December 9th, 2021, Twitter^[7] user @jonetaw posted "In my academic flop era," gaining over 29,300 likes and 8,900 retweets in five days. On December 10th, Twitter^[8] user @MNateShyamalan tweeted a hypothetical comedic situation about a therapist and their patient who is in their flop era, gaining over 4,000 likes and 400 retweets in four days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References