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I've already proved to be miserable at catching GMM catchphrases, but I have noticed the reoccurring "because rats" phrase, likely because unfunny "because (noun)" jokes are real pet peeve of mine. Does anyone know when "because rats" was coined?

Here's a few articles about origins of that common usage and causes for its recent explosion because, hey, GOOGLE! and the first specific R&L "RATS" reference that I can find . . .

FYI - the "because x" (as in because reasons, because awesome) was elected Word of the Year 2013 by the American Dialect Society*. In 2015 they selected the word "they" when referring to a singular person (i.e., "They so craycray") and last year it was "dumpster fire" - - - The annual word-of-the-year vote.

The American Dialect Society, founded in 1889, is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it. Members of the organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students, and independent scholars.

I wonder if our own resident grammarian, K-Mod Victoria (Centauromadoose), has joined the ranks?

A very interesting website, I'm going to bookmark for later reading. 

Here's a sample from one article:

The American Dialect Society words of the year, decade, century, and millennium chosen in January 2000 need no introduction. But they could use an explanation.

Word of the Year 1999 was Y2K.

Word of the 1990s Decade was web.

Word of the Twentieth Century was jazz.

Word of the Past Millennium was she.

Yes, she, the feminine pronoun. Before the year 1000, there was no she in English; just heo, which singular females had to share with plurals of all genders because it meant they as well. In the twelfth century, however, she appeared, and she has been with us ever since. She may derive from the Old English feminine demonstrative pronoun seo or sio, or from Viking invasions.

Interesting indeed. Thanks for the research.

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