About

Smash or Pass is a slang phrase and challenge said to someone with accompanying information, often a picture or video of someone or something. The goal of the challenge is to say whether the participant would Smash, or pass, meaning would refuse intercourse if given the (usually highly unlikely) opportunity. Though often used as a time waster before the Internet among friends, the game has advanced with the additional utility of online life.

Origin

Smash or Pass existed before the Internet in another form, as a common game among friends when a list of celebrities would often be spoken outloud with answers such as 'yes' or 'no' sufficing, but with more communication taking place online, it would eventually be ported over. This was done on October 17th, 2010, when I.F. Definitions^[1] posted the definition for Smash or Pass to Urban Dictionary (shown below).

Spread

The phrase Smash or Pass would then be used sparingly in online discourse, mostly in forums and chat rooms, until January 10th, 2017, when the YouTube channel De'arra & Ken 4 Life^[2] uploaded a video titled 'SMASH OR PASS!!? (Celebrity Edition)' and helped popularize the video genre on YouTube, while earning 5.7 million views in six years (shown below).

Smash or Pass would grow bigger from there, with a mobile game being created later in 2017, showing a picture and giving the choices before showing what the majority of other players also chose. The game was developed by Go Casual Games^[3] and was last updated on April 17th, 2020 (shown below).

On February 12th, 2022, the YouTuber Markiplier would do a Smash or Pass of his own^[4], with Pokemon, causing another renaissance of the genre, but this time focused around video game and anime characters, while also securing for himself over 10 million views in three months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References