# Big Dick Energy

> A phrase counted in 129,184 original tweets became shirts, songs and dictionary entries.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2018-06-09
- Peak date: Week of Jun 26, 2018
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 65 (Viral, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Catchphrase, Press loop, Platform jump, Controversy, Response chain

## Summary

Grant’s Bourdain tweet spread through Davidson jokes and explainers. A corpus counted 129,184 original uses from June 25 to August 11. The Cut withdrew its BDE shirt and offered Grant its profits. Dictionaries and musicians adopted the phrase.

## Timeline

- 2018-06-09 — @imbobswaget (X) — Kyrell Grant posted that Anthony Bourdain had big dick energy.
- 2018-06-23 — @babyvietcong (X) — @babyvietcong applied the phrase to Pete Davidson and his engagement to Ariana Grande.
- 2018-06-26 — The Verge (Press) — The Verge reported hundreds of thousands of engagements on the Davidson joke.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/big-dick-energy

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Big Dick Energy.” Case HIS-00048. Spread Score v1.2: 65/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00048