You know how you let out an uncontrollable laugh when someone trips? Of course you know better than that, but then you let out a snort. Well, get ready for Cliff
Wife, which may cause wheezing and light bladder leakage, too.
First off, don’t worry -- nobody was hurt! Jenny McBride fell off a
cliff fell a bit and lived to tell about it. Not only that, but
she was christened "Cliff Wife" and thus became a certified internet meme.
It all began when Youtuber Shonduras (Shaun McBride) posted
a dramatic video of his wife, Jenny, taking a spill during a hike while the couple and their kids were on vacation in Hawaii. Jenny fell off
the trail about 14ish feet to the shore below, narrowly missing some big rocks
and ending up with just a few minor scrapes and bruises. Shonduras then posted
a video titled, "JENNY FELL OFF A CLIFF...scary moment for our
family." The 19 minute-long video starts with a graphic warning and the aftermath
of the fall. It then cuts to a discussion between the couple recalling how it was “the BEST day
ever” and finally shows the sensational spill, complete with slo-mo rewinds.
What was likely intended to be a video garnering sympathy suddenly became a joke on Twitter, thanks to its hyperbolic exaggeration.
Yes, Jenny did fall. It was a big fall, but it was not off a cliff. It was more
like the time Leslie Knope rolled into the pit on “Parks and Recreation.”
Shonduras yanked the video and retitled it, “JENNY FELL OFF
THE TRAIL,” but the damage was already done; Twitter's band of jokesters had arrived.
It didn’t help that there’s lately been a recent string of “wife”
memes on twitter such as curvy wife, the don’t email my wife guy, the fake wife guy, to name a few. Now people are mashing them together
and, really, if you miss a day on Twitter, this super-meta content can be
confusing.
Shonduras deleted the video of the fall from Twitter, but just like pee in a pool, it still exists everywhere. Here's the raw footage if you need to see it again.
A word to the wise: The internet has built up a pretty good
bulls*** detector and if you are going to post an over-the-top video about how
your wife almost died when she really didn’t, prepare to be roasted. In the meantime, we'll be ready with memes.