Kim Kardashian hit 30 million Twitter followers Monday, and her husband, Kanye West, celebrated by tweeting a few nude photos of her.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/577528693242757120
It was a big day.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/577528844267057152
Kanye felt #blessed.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/577528903167660032
It’s a classic “I love my wife!” shoutout, a level of praise every proud hubby should try to emulate—the 2015 version of Lloyd Dobler’s boombox in Say Anything.
But Kanye added a zesty twist, a little garnish on his tweetstorm: the word “SWISH!!!”
The term caught on quickly. SWISH!!! became a meme within minutes.
SWISH pic.twitter.com/Kcgj7ttRBo
— Christopher Ingraham🦗 (@_cingraham) March 16, 2015
The parodies swooped in.
SWISH!!!!! pic.twitter.com/rzI2qNxAAG
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) March 16, 2015
SWISH!!!!! pic.twitter.com/DmF1YBTf0H
— Brendan (@notbrendan) March 16, 2015
SWISH pic.twitter.com/kBWMq3jKZS
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) March 16, 2015
SWISH!!! pic.twitter.com/QcelUjhbA2
— Ben Detrick (@bdetrick) March 16, 2015
https://twitter.com/DanRubenstein/status/577533654047580160
So! What is swish? Where did it come from?
It’s been on Urban Dictionary for 13 years. The most common definition is the sound a basketball makes when it flies through a hoop without touching the rim—nothin’ but net. “Swishy” is also a somewhat derogatory phrase for gay dudes, and “swish” is a slang term in the U.K. that means “cool.”
Kanye’s probably alluding to basketball here. It’s a lovely, triumphant phrase, evoking a clean Stephen Curry three-point shot, accompanied by a fist-pump and a sprint down the court. It’s also a little sexual: a ball plummeting into a net without a bit of interference.
Here’s to SWISH!!! You’ve got about seven days to use it freely until the brands discover it…
https://twitter.com/_Cooper/status/577530053266915328
…nope, never mind.
SWISH!!!!! pic.twitter.com/TgIS2rLmk8
— Denny’s (@DennysDiner) March 16, 2015
Photos via Kanye West