A gay man on Twitter has gone viral after sharing how his mom misunderstood a bit of queer male cultural terminology--to hilarious results.
Twitter user @SpiceBoyJoey tweeted out his mom's hilarious misread of what Grindr, the popular gay male app, is used for. For the uninitiated, it's a location-based app to find men in your immediate area looking to hook up.
But to SpiceBoyJoey's mom, the word "Grindr" pointed to one thing and one thing only: submarine sandwiches.
See his tweet below.
mom asked if Grindr is for \u201cordering subs\u201d and i just walked out of the room— joey \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@joey \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1644803478
He wrote:
"mom asked if Grindr is for 'ordering subs' and i just walked out of the room"
Oh, bless her heart.
In her defense, "grinder" is a word for submarine sandwiches in several parts of the country, especially in New England--similar to how they're known as "hoagies" in Pennsylvania. What is a sweet, innocent mom supposed to think Grindr is for in that case?
And credit where it's due, this is one of those situations where mom's not entirely wrong. Though Grindr is definitely not for ordering delicious sandwiches, the app is surely chock-full of subs--as in submissives, people who like to be dominated in the bedroom. Let's give mom a break, even a broken clock is right twice a day as the saying goes!
Joey's mom is in good company--the internet is full of stories of moms making similar mishaps, like baker Joe Manganello who went similarly viral after his mother asked for a definition of the word "bussy," a slang portmanteau of "boy" and "pus*y" queer men use to refer to their, er, hindquarters.
And YouTube is full of videos where people's moms--or just straight people in general--try to guess what gay slang words mean, to often cringeworthy results.
Even when it comes to sandwich-related mishaps, Jeoy's mom is not alone. In 2019, sandwich chain Jersey Mike's tweeted asking people "how do you top your sub?" that got so many ribald responses, the company ended up deleting it.
UN-DELETE THIS TWEET YOU COWARDSpic.twitter.com/GBLJPaZ9gS— brian \ud83d\udc9a (@brian \ud83d\udc9a) 1550705212
Joey's fellow tweeters, of course, found his mom's linguistic mishap hilarious.
Travon.— deray (@deray) 1644890879
I\u2019m her defense there is a sub chain in Columbus OH by that namepic.twitter.com/0WOzQJWkxF— Mark (@Mark) 1644860815
Tell her Yes. It's for ordering footlongs.— Desmond ASMR (@Desmond ASMR) 1644889345
it isn\u2019t not— david alexander (@david alexander) 1644803574
Fruits , subs , cake , sausage\u2026. It\u2019s practically an online grocery store— Ricardo (@Ricardo) 1644811930
pic.twitter.com/G1tACD1i8l— shane:// (@shane://) 1644829809
I read this to my husband and he just pantomimed unzipping a gimp mask and said \u201cSometimes,\u201d and winked.— Tom Gibbons (@Tom Gibbons) 1644848985
well i use it to order subs— kristofer thomas (@kristofer thomas) 1644862744
it is thohttps://twitter.com/SpiceBoyJoey/status/1493040120433418241\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf4b paige victoria \ud83c\udf4b (@\ud83c\udf4b paige victoria \ud83c\udf4b) 1644867013
...yeeesssss? No. Buuut... yes?https://twitter.com/SpiceBoyJoey/status/1493040120433418241\u00a0\u2026— Taylor Goethe \u2744\ufe0fOPEN 4 WORK\u2744\ufe0f (@Taylor Goethe \u2744\ufe0fOPEN 4 WORK\u2744\ufe0f) 1644868354
At least this mishap inspired Joey to order a delicious sandwich for dinner.
not this doing numbers! ugh my mother is going to kill me! and i am definitely ordering a meatball sub for dinner— joey \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@joey \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1644852821
At least... that's what we assume he meant.