Cool Story

Cool Story, Bro

gif of person flipping a chair and sitting in it

About

"Cool Story, Bro" is a catchphrase often seen in image macros as a sarcastic response on message boards or in comments to posts that are accounted deadening, pointless or besides long to read (TL;DR).

Origin

The phrase "cool story"^[2] used every bit a sarcastic response to a narrative was first seen in the 2001 film Zoolander ^[v], where actor Owen Wilson's graphic symbol Hansel tells a long winded story about a drug-induced hallucination. In response, a background character named Olaf yells out from beyond the room, "Absurd story, Hansel" while laughing.

"Cool Story, Bro" began on 4chan's /v/ (video games) board^[8], used as a response to posts containing personal or lengthy stories every bit early as July 18th, 2008^[ix] in a thread for distressing moments in a person'south gaming life. Prototype macros followed, initially paired with a panel from Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hercules #122.^[6] The event was inked past Clayton Henry and Salvador Espin and published on October 29th, 2008, showing Hercules during a flashback right before he finds out his friend Queen Hippolyta had been killed.^[7]

panel from Marvel Hercules comic showing Hercules giving a thumbs up and the caption cool story bro

full page from Marvel's Hercules comic where the cool story bro pic originated from

Spread

"Cool story, bro" was first defined on Urban Lexicon^[4] on January 5th, 2009. In July of that yr, the first Yahoo! Answers^[thirteen] inquiry about the phrase was asked. The phrase was discussed on Slate^[12] in May 2011 every bit useful tool in commenting on wordy posts. A Twitter account, @CoolStoryBro^[16], was created on October 17th, 2011 which reposts tweets that are accounted deserving of the sarcastic response.

"Cool Story Bro" spread to existent life equally an expression of ane's complete indifference towards someone else's remark through the MTV reality show Jersey Shore. Sometimes paired with the phrase "Tell it Again," the phrase has been made into t-shirts^[xiv] at the store where the cast members are employed. In that location are ii Facebook fan pages^[11] ^[xv] for the phrase, with over 133,000 likes between them as of March 2012.

Notable Examples

guy in backwards baseball cap holding a beer and the caption cool story brought to you by bro

Wayne from Wayne's World holding a thumb up and the caption cool story bro

person giving a thumbs up photoshopped with Hercules' hair and headgear and the caption cool story bro

dog sitting like a person looking uninterested and the caption cool story bro

Now That's What I Call Music cover changed to say Now That's What I Call a Cool Story Bro

BROOL STORY CO BROOL STORYS SINCE 1939 ETC BROOL STORY CO Telling brool stories since 1939. property

Derivatives

At that place are a number of like derivative expressions based on the phrase "cool story, bro" that take the Hercules portrait and photoshop it to fit the new phrase.

RIVETING TALE, CHAP cartoon fictional character

Astonishing theory professor! facial expression cartoon nose fictional character vision care eyewear forehead mouth

EPIC SAGA, LUKE cartoon fictional character

In Unlike Languages

The phrase has likewise been translated into different languages^[4] through its employ on 4chan's /int/ (international) board as well every bit localized paradigm boards, including Soviet Russia.^[x]