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About

Oh To Be is a phrasal template used in conjunction with a photograph to express the desire to be someone or something else. The phrase as a caption to photographs went viral on Twitter in early 2020.

Origin

Because the phrase is a commonly used one in the English language, it is difficult to determine the origin of the meme. However, on July 3rd, 2011, Twitter[1] user @domesticH shared the earliest known usage of the phrase with a photograph. As the caption to a photograph of a sneaker shoe with the words "I love zombies," they wrote, "Oh, to be 11" (shown below).

freckle face @domesticH oh, to be 11. oh, to be 11. oh, to be 11. S twitpic.com 1:39 PM · Jul 3, 2011 · Twitter for iPhone ♡Zornbies

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Throughout 2011, the phrase continued to be used. For example, on October 24th, Twitter[2] user @kwmorris tweeted, "Forgot to share this photo earlier…note the tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. Oh to be a dog" (shown below).

The phrase went viral in earnest following a December 25th, 2019 tweet by @band_maiko. That day, they shared a video of someone making Christmas pastries. They wrote, "oh………….. to be a macaron on a chocolate ferris wheel." The post received more than 380,000 likes and 72,000 retweets in less than three months (shown below).

Weeks later, Twitter user @LeonInLaurent tweeted, "oh to be a tiny lizard licking an orange." They included a video of the lizard and received more than 13 million views, 1 million likes and 248,000 retweets in less than two months (shown below).

The trend continued throughout February. On February 3rd, Twitter [3] user @canterbunny tweeted, "Oh to be a fluffy Japanese pancake." The tweet received more than 174,000 likes and 31,000 retweets in about one month (shown below, left). Twitter[4] user @valentinavml tweeted, "oh to be a tiny snail having a kiss on some cherries." Within one month, the tweet received more than 356,000 likes and 85,000 retweets (shown below, center). Later that month, Twitter[5] user @greenanorak tweeted, "oh to be a yellow lab napping on a windowsill overlooking a canal in Bruges." The tweet received more than 810,000 likes and 174,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).

On March 3rd, the website Junkee[6] reported on the rise of the meme and included popular examples of its usage.



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