Yeet. This is a word that has taken America by storm. Originally associated with sports in which we throw balls, it has survived the test of time that few words could pass on the internet. According to the Urban Dictionary, this beautiful word has existed on the planet Earth since 2008. There are few other words born of the internet’s all-bearing womb that have such an extensive history. It has faded in and out of obscurity, gathering new meaning along the way. Now, in 2018, it has many uses. But what is the correct use of this literary wonder? What is the definitive usage of yeet?

We start our journey in 2008. In a world of sports and most other physical activities, when the players were making their shot, they were yelling “yeet” right before they did so. Even though it surely wasn’t the sensation that it is today, it was a statement of mankind’s ambitions. “Yeet” was always called before the shot. The “Yeeter” (one who yeets according to Urban Dictionary) had no idea what would become of their following actions. Would they make that shot? Would that which they are passing make it across the great divide and to its destination? There were no guarantees. This was truly a symbol of faith in one’s self through the final push to make the shot count.

Despite its popularity, “yeet” had not yet acquired the level of virility on the Internet that would seal it into history the way lamination once made our most precious papers eternal. By the early 2010’s, the word experienced little activity. According to the Dictionary.com article on Yeet, the word made its triumphant return through many viral videos as a name for a new dance. The Yeet could only be performed by bending your legs, letting your arms reach out, and letting your shoulders wiggle with style. It was now associated strongly with dancing spirit and prowess. While now being used as a way to express joy in the presence of triumph, its roots as a symbol of ambition were withering. Yeet, as a preemptive cry of victory in the success of throwing things toward their destination, lost its prominence in sports. Instead, it was proclaimed before the attempts of many to toss their trash into cans from a mild distance. In a sense, “yeet” had nearly lost its heart in its time spent dormant. There is only one way that it could continue to survive and be returned to its former, glorious state; it needed versatility.

What drove “yeet” to continue forward? What made people wish to use it for nearly everything? It remained prominent through its semantic anonymity as it was used for just about everything from a sheer expression of joy as a reaction to a substitute for verbs regarding strenuous physical tasks. Finally, in March of 2018, it found its most powerful form at the center of the subreddit r/dankmemes and other Dank Meme centers. Yeet became so diverse that it became a powerful tool for absurdist humor. It can be applied in any way toward any niche interest, from cries of justice for Sheen from Jimmy Neutron (who was totally yeeted), to describing variations of pop-culture figures that play the circle game.

Yeet is not just a meme. It is a window through which we can spirit of humanity. When Yeet means sad, we are sad. When Yeet means happy, we are happy. When we begin to use yeet with confidence and ambition once more, the golden age of humanity will be sure to follow.