Memes Your Know: Cracking Open A Cold One With The Boys

This fixed-blade knife can do a lot. It can dress large game. It can hew ample hunks of salami. And, in a pinch, you could probably use it to crack open a cold one with the boys.Meh writer @skemmehs here acting as your guide as we cut our way through the damp, miasmal undergrowth of Internet Memery. The art form has experienced some rough PR lately, but I believe it remains a fertile creative outlet for those who practice it like not-idiots. Today’s meme: “Cracking open a cold one with the boys,” as in:https://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/image/upload/v1496797251/jvaykty0xh5xft9lnm1j.jpgDoesn’t make much sense? It’s about to make incrementally more.The origins of this particular phrase as a meme are a bit hazy. Know Your Meme points to the creation of a Facebook page by that title in early 2016 as the genesis, but my gut tells me it was a reaction to something brewing in another and probably more sinister place such as the Chan we shall not name. Warning: Like with most meme pages, if you go rooting around in that one you’ll find some unsavory fare. Don’t leave the trail of relative safety I have forged.The meme crept from its primordial page into the international stage with this ultra-satisfying One-Million-Times video:https://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/video/upload/v1755097222/962263da39837704c47d00334eecded3.mp4From there it took off like the carbon dioxide from so many cold ones:https://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/image/upload/v1496797277/fitw5w48grqc0awr2pc1.pngAnd has enjoyed (by meme standards) a protracted run of popularity.https://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/image/upload/v1496797606/v1oj1skxjgrpmzsutbjb.pnghttps://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/image/upload/v1496797737/ekdbdotk3rjboamehldr.pngAnd, like any meme that flies too close to the sun and gains widespread popularity, it was recently co-opted by a company even lamer than us:https://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/image/upload/v1496797818/ifepuf9qnueeruhyyjof.jpgPrompting this response from /r/CoaCOwtB:https://d2b8wt72ktn9a2.cloudfront.net/mediocre/image/upload/v1496797916/ic99xkydjssy7qaclgaw.pngJust wait til they see their precious meme exploited in the service of selling a knife.