Masterful Gambit, Sir

About

Masterful Gambit, Sir is a catchphrase typically used to mock Elon Musk and his fans, particularly in response to negative news stories about Musk and his endeavors. The catchphrase saw more usage after numerous embarrassing stories about Twitter came out in the aftermath of his purchase of the app in late 2022 and early 2023.

Origin

On July 12th, 2022, Twitter user @EsqTim^[1] mocked Elon Musk fans' perceived propensity for complimenting the billionaire no matter what mistakes he may make with a tweet reading:

Elon Musk: [slams dick in car door]
Musk Fans: Masterful gambit, sir

The tweet gained over 7,000 retweets and 26,000 likes in nearly one year (shown below).

Spread

The catchphrase started seeing increased usage in mid-November 2022 when reports surfaced that Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition had contributed to tanking Tesla stock. For example, on November 21st, Twitter user @ricketyoldshack^[2] used it in response to news of Tesla's falling stock (shown below, left). On December 13th, 2022, user @ConvolutedName^[3] then posted it in response to a story about Musk firing his lawyer despite Twitter having some potential legal hurdles, gaining over 80 retweets and 500 likes in four months (shown below, right).

On March 31st, 2023, the catchphrase was widely posted in response to a story that the 10,000 most-followed companies on Twitter would not have to pay $1,000 a month for verification. Many perceived this as a failure of Twitter's idea to charge companies and individuals for verification in order to earn revenue, as less-popular companies could potentially not be interested in paying the monthly fee. Twitter users @ParkerMollow^[4] and Lukeoneil47^[5] tweeted the meme that day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References