Which Could Mean Nothing

Submission 20,599

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

About

Which Could Mean Nothing is a catchphrase often used in memes and posts to subtly suggest that two people are secretly in a romantic or sexual relationship. The phrase became increasingly popularized online starting in February 2021 after Lainey Gossip published an article titled, "Matt Damon not wearing wedding ring again during another visit to Ben Affleck's house which could mean nothing." A screenshot of the article gained viral spread over the following years. The phrase then became further popularized in 2024 on sites including X / Twitter, Tumblr and TikTok.

Origin

On January 11th, 2021, Lainey Gossip^[1] published an article about actor Matt Damon not wearing his wedding ring while visiting fellow actor Ben Affleck. The article is titled "Matt Damon Ring Update," but the preview title reads, "Matt Damon not wearing wedding ring again during another visit to Ben Affleck's house which could mean nothing."

On February 6th, Tumblr^[2] user disco-cheese posted a screenshot of the article with the full title, writing, "IM LAUGHING AT THIS HEADLINE," the suggestion being that the title is implying that Damon went to Affleck's house without his wedding ring because he's secretly in a relationship with him. The post gained over 91,000 notes in three years (shown below).

Spread

The screenshot of the article continued to spread over the following years, accelerating and further popularizing rumors and ship fantasies that Affleck and Damon's friendship is actually romantic or sexual.

On February 9th, 2021, X^[3] user @traingers shared the screenshot, garnering over 500 likes in three years. On May 19th, 2023, X^[4] user @1918friends posted the screenshot, writing, "whenever I say 'which could mean nothing' I'm referencing this btw," garnering over 17,000 likes in a year (shown below).

On November 27th, 2023, Tumblr^[5] user whereisthebigstabbyman posted the screenshot as part of a compilation of Damon x Affleck-related posts to fuel the rumors, garnering over 5,000 notes in six months. On January 1st, 2024, X^[6] user @brontefilm posted the screenshot, writing, "ok," garnering over 8,000 likes in four months.

On May 14th, 2024, X^[7] user @hsufhkshndk11 posted a photo of Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, the lead actors in the 2024 film Challengers, in Milan, writing, "which could mean nothing," garnering over 8,500 likes in two weeks (shown below, left).

On May 23rd, X^[8] user @litlefishes made a similar post about the same actors, writing, "this scene being mike’s favorite part to shoot .. which could mean nothing," referring to a scene where the two playfully chase each other around a tennis court, garnering over 6,300 likes in six days (shown below, right).

On May 24th, 2024, TikToker^[9] @pinktoadstooll posted a video captioned, "Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were considered to play lead in Broke Back Mountain. WHICH COULD MEAN NOTHING," garnering over 147,000 views in five days (shown below).