About
“420 Blaze it” is an expression which orders someone to smoke marijuana. The phrase is often used ironically to mock cannabis enthusiasts and members of the “stoner” subculture.
Origin
On October 20th, 2011 the website for the Belgian magazine Humo[2] posted a single panel comic in which a father tells his daughter that she cannot contract the AIDS virus from a mosquito bite but replies “that changes everything” when asked what would happen if the mosquito was a homosexual (shown below).
Translation:
Dad: “No honey, you can’t get AIDS from a mosquite bite.”
Daughter: “Even if the musquito is a homosexual?”
Dad: “That changes everything!”
On July 8th, 2012, Tumblr[2] user welcometothedankside posted an edited version of the comic panel, showing the father attempting to persuade his six-year-old daughter to smoke marijuana by saying “420 blaze it faggot” (shown below). Within the next seven months, the post received over 48,300 notes.
420
According to the editor of the marijuana enthusiast magazine High Times, the term “420” was coined by a group of students known as the “Waldos” at the San Rafael High School in California in 1971. The term was used to refer to the time of day the group would meet to smoke marijuana.[5]
Precursor
The phrase may have been inspired by the song “Blaze it Up (420 Anthem)” by the rappers K57, Bez Da Boss and Akki Bo. On March 22nd, 2011, YouTuber Anthony Jacob uploaded a music video of the track, featuring several scenes in which marijuana appears to be consumed (shown below).
Spread
On August 5th, 2012, a Facebook[1] page titled “420 Blaze it Fagut” was created, which accumulated more than 280 likes in the next six months. On August 11th, Forum Korner[9] member Aiden submitted welcometothedankside’s comic to the marijuana subforum. On September 23rd, an anonymous 4chan user submitted a post to the /x/ (paranormal) board,[8] featuring a cropped image of the father’s head from the comic accompanied by the phrase “420 blaze it faggot.” On December 28th, Redditor HoagieTime submitted a post to the /r/circlejerk subreddit, which joked that “420 blaze it” were the last words of the deceased science professor Carl Sagan. Within two months, the post received over 5,900 up votes and 190 comments. As of February 2013, there have been over 300 posts submitted to the subreddit with the keywords “blaze it.”[6]
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Facebook – 420 Blaze it Fagut
[2]Tumblr – welcometothedankside
[3]Reddit – TIL Bob Marleys last words were 420 blaze it faggot
[4]Reddit – This made me lol at a 0
[5]SF Gate – Stoner Chic Traces Origin to San Rafael
[7]Reddit – TIL a dying Carl Sagan last words were literally 420 blaze it faggot
[8]4chandata – 420 blaze it faggot
[9]ForumKorner – 420 blaze it faggot