Let It Linger / Letting It Linger

Submission 16,528

Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]

About

Let It Linger, also known as Letting It Linger, is a catchphrase used in memes that references a lyric from the 1993 song "Linger" by The Cranberries. Starting in early 2023, the lyric "Do You Have To Let It Linger" was used in viral tweets and memes, coming to head after a viral quote retweet sent in March 2023. Since the tweet was posted to Twitter, the phrase was edited into multiple exploitable meme templates on Instagram and elsewhere online.

Origin

On May 18th, 2022, Twitter^[1] user @Iucyswift tweeted a Staring Donkey image with a caption reading, "do you have to let it linger," in reference to the 1993 song "Linger" by The Cranberries.^[2] Over the course of 11 months, the tweet received roughly 18,000 likes (shown below, left). However, in addition to this, a meme was posted by the since-deleted Instagram account @hollowcloth that used the same text and image (shown below, right). Its upload date is unknown. Its earliest repost was made by Twitter^[3] user @whorrendous on January 7th, 2023, gaining over 250 likes in three months.

Spread

After the Staring Donkey meme went viral, others on Instagram, Twitter and elsewhere started to make memes in reference to The Cranberries' lyrics, predominantly manifesting in early 2023. For instance, on January 7th, 2023, Instagram^[4] user @manicpixiememequeen posted a Couple in a Red Car meme about the lyrics, gaining roughly 24,200 likes in three months (shown below, left). On March 2nd, Instagram^[5] user @chorus_in_the_chaos posted a meme using a screencap from The Cranberries' music video, earning over 320 likes in one month (shown below, right).

On March 17th, 2023, Twitter^[6] user @jarodzsz tweeted, "I'm letting it linger today idgaf," gaining roughly 10,200 likes in 18 days. Two days later, on March 19th, Twitter^[7] user @airbagged quote retweeted @jarodzsz, writing, "the cranberries in 1993:" and gained roughly 86,200 likes in 16 days (shown below).

Screenshots of Twitter^[7] user @airbagged's QT were posted to Instagram,^[8] going viral in their own right. The QT inspired more memes on Instagram^[9] and Twitter^[10] that referenced the phrases "Let It Linger" and "Letting It Linger" going into April 2023.