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What does "hold my sake" mean? I see it sometimes in internet memes but I don't know what it means.

Timotej Leginus
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Devil man
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1 Answers1

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This seems to be a play on the idiom hold my beer

I am about to do something that exceeds even your impressive feat, or that you think I can’t do.

combined with the fact that sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage, and the game that is being referred to in the image has a Japanese theme.

So basically, EA is saying "single player games are dead", and FromSoftware is replying with "hold my sake", implying that they are about to come up with a (presumably Japanese themed) single player game that will revitalize the genre, thereby proving EA wrong.

cigien
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    There's also a subtle implication of "I think this will be easy, and won't take long" followed by either success and return for beer, or massive failure and no-beer. – Criggie Sep 06 '21 at 03:25
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    A key aspect not mentioned is that "hold my beer" suggests that the attempt will likely fail, as it implies the participants being "drunk". – MaxD Sep 06 '21 at 07:06
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    @MaxD Interesting! I've always interpreted it with exactly the opposite meaning: it's something that's actually so easy that it can be trivially demonstrated while drunk. – Nye Sep 06 '21 at 15:31
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    @MaxD There's certainly aspect of alcohol-fuelled overconfidence, but there's also the connotation of "Although I'm just sitting here relaxing, I can do it". – PM 2Ring Sep 06 '21 at 15:33
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    @MaxD: I don't think the "likely failure" connotation is universal in the use of that phrase. I've mostly seen it used in youtube comments to describe successful efforts, e.g. on D&D actual-play shows that I watch a lot of. (And from context, I don't think any likely-failure was intended. Mostly just people wanting to use a meme to sing the praises of the players or characters in the video.) – Peter Cordes Sep 06 '21 at 17:53
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    "Hold my " implies that the speaker thinks it will be quick and easy. Whether they're right is a separate issue. – Barmar Sep 06 '21 at 19:38
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    @MaxD I've seen the phrase used in numerous contexts where the speaker is simply expressing confidence... whether or not that confidence is misplaced due to inebriation appears to be irrelevant. – Corey Sep 07 '21 at 01:43
  • @MaxD: The failure expectation isn't part of it, but rather the impromptu nature of the decision to casually give it a go. Reddit has avoided the implication of failure by using the "Hold my X" format to instead indicate something about the person, not the success of their attempt. E.g. /r/holdmycosmo for women, /r/holdmyredbull for high octane stunts, /r/holdmyfries for fat people, /r/holdmyjuicebox for children, /r/holdmyfeedingtube for serious injuries, /r/holdmybraincells for really stupid ideas, /r/holdmybeaker for science-related antics, ... – Flater Sep 07 '21 at 09:08
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    @MaxD - "Hold my beer" doesn't mean that you think it will fail at all... It implies precisely nothing about what you judge your chances of success to be – ScottishTapWater Sep 07 '21 at 13:21
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    @cigien minor addendum - FromSoftware is also a Japanese developer, in addition to the game having a Japanese theme – crass_sandwich Sep 07 '21 at 13:48
  • @PeterCordes https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hold-my-beer Know Your Meme has a lot of documentation backing up that it's primarily (if not 100%) for fails. Even references that are pre-internet memes: "What are a redneck's last words?" – user3067860 Sep 07 '21 at 14:56
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    @Persistence The person who's saying hold my beer thinks they will succeed...because they are drunk. Anyone watching who is sober thinks they will fail. – user3067860 Sep 07 '21 at 14:57
  • @user3067860: As the meme spread, it seems some people didn't pick up on that connotation and started using it for non-fail cases. https://knowyourmeme.com/ seems not to cover that development. You know how many people love to use memes instead of just saying something normal like "Matt Mercer is an amazing DM who can do a lot of voices." I also suspect that a decent fraction of the people making such comments on the videos I watched wouldn't have ever heard the phrase outside of meme context, because they don't hang around IRL with people who would say that and then do something unwise. – Peter Cordes Sep 07 '21 at 19:09
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    I've never seen it as a 'likely to fail' prospect - more a 'i can be stupider than you' sentiment (which, let's face it, never fails) The first time I saw this as a meme was between the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election. "BRITAIN: Brexit is the stupidest, most self-destructive act a country could undertake. USA: Hold my beer." Following the meme, the US didn't fail that. – mcalex Sep 08 '21 at 03:07
  • @mcalex, that's still outdoing the first-described act (successfully). – ilkkachu Sep 08 '21 at 11:53
  • Pedantically, from my recollection the game was already released or close to release when this meme was created. It is also very unlikely the FromSoftware created the meme themselves. – MonkeyZeus Sep 08 '21 at 14:30