Whoa, We’re Halfway There

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

About

Whoa, We’re Halfway There is a pun photo series based on a lyric from the 1986 glam metal song "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, which features pictures that bring to mind a descriptive phrase rhyming with "we're halfway there." In 2016 and the following years, the catchphrase was typically added to image macro memes, often coinciding with Wednesdays as a way to express being halfway through the week.

Origin

On October 31st, 1986, Bon Jovi released the single "Livin' on a Prayer" off their third studio album Slippery When Wet, which features the lyrics "Woah, we're half way there / Woah, livin' on a prayer" during the chorus (shown below).

On August 22nd, 2016, Twitter user @peachesanscream^[1] posted a picture of an iguana sitting in a chair with the caption "Whoa, we're halfway there… Woah-oh…" (shown below). Within 10 days, the tweet gained over 4,100 likes and 3,200 retweets.

Spread

That day, other Twitter users replied to @peachesanscream with additional pun photos, featuring the rhymes "wizard at a fair" (shown below, left), "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (shown below, middle) and "have a seat over there" (shown below, right).^[7]^[8]^[9]

On August 28th, Twitter user @Truett^[10] posted a photograph of a lemon and a pear along with the Bon Jovi lyric, garnering upwards of 17,500 likes and 12,300 retweets in four days (shown below). On September 1st, a screenshot of @Truett's tweet reached the front page of the /r/me_irl^[12] subreddit, gathering upwards of 7,500 votes (82% upvoted) and 260 comments in 24 hours. On September 2nd, Redditor NaYeahMate submitted a post asking about the series to /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[11] In the coming days, several internet news sites published articles about the pun series, including UpRoxx, BuzzFeed, Cheezburger and The Daily Dot.