sure, Jan
English
editEtymology
editReferencing a scene from the American comedy film A Very Brady Sequel (1996), in which the character Jan Brady (Jennifer Elise Cox) is lying about having a boyfriend named George Glass at school, to which her sister Marcia Brady (Christine Taylor) replies, “Sure, Jan.” The phrase was popularized in early 2015 on Tumblr and other websites, chiefly through image macros and GIFs featuring the original scene from the film.[1]
Phrase
edit- (Internet slang) Used sarcastically to express dismissal or disbelief in relation to a statement.
- 2019 June 16, Danez Smith, “Reimagining Ourselves in an Increasingly Queer World”, in The New York Times[3]:
- I once had a 14-year-old tell me they were a poly-pansexual and while I wanted to be like, “Sure, Jan,” I was more astonished that there was language so readily available to welcome her into herself and her li’l kingdom of love.
- 2021 September 12, Mehera Bonner, “Breaking! Britney Spears Is Engaged to Sam Asghari!”, in Cosmopolitan[4]:
- But then Sam deleted the pic and ~claimed~ his account was hacked (sure, Jan), saying, “Account got hacked and was photoshopped—calm down, everyone!”
- 2023 May 18, Kathleen Walsh, “Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss Didn’t Break Up Because They Were Never Together, Apparently”, in Glamour[5]:
- However, [Tom] Sandoval-aligned insiders now insist that there could be no breakup because there was never an official relationship. This seems like a pretty philosophical way of defining “breakup” and “relationship,” but sure, Jan.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:sure, Jan.