Why ‘30–50 Feral Hogs’ Was a Howl of Despair
By Tom Whyman
Every now and then, a new word or phrase will appear on the internet. You will maybe start out seeing it once or twice and wonder what people are talking about. And then suddenly, it’s everywhere. For a few hours or even days, it will stalk you across the internet. You will feel like you are unable to escape it.
Perhaps the president will tweet the word “covfefe,” and his opponents will briefly consider this to be the funniest thing that has ever happened. Perhaps an indie game will experience an unexpectedly high-profile launch, inspiring everyone to change their Twitter handle with some take on “horrible goose.” Probably the most obvious recent example of this phenomenon — and the most extreme, in terms of its eruption — was the phrase “30–50 feral hogs.” This perfect piece of nonsense briefly supernova-ed in early August, even earning a write-up in The Guardian, before just as quickly burning out. Other, more niche words or phrases often ricochet through smaller subsections of the Internet.
Chanted like a mantra, everyone obsessively attempts to combine these new words or phrases with seemingly every other meme, as if inducting them into internet tradition. After the initial ecstasy, there’s an attempt to understand. We want to know: why has this particular word or phrase short-circuited our brain…
