Why Everyone Says “Let’s Gooooooo!”

EPISODE 16: The lost history of a phrase, from Shakespeare to (Taylor) Swift.

Language is a virus.

Often, the precise origin of a popular phrase can be entirely unclear. All we know, sometimes, is that we picked up a saying from someone, somewhere.

And that now — as with the curious, conspicuous case of LET’S GO — it’s everywhere.

Which is why we here at PTFO assigned intrepid correspondent Jeremy Taché a difficult, and deeply personal, assignment.

We wanted to report the lineage of the most virally reflexive idiom in American sports. Making phone calls; sending DMs; and traveling through centuries of literature, music, advertisements, and memes.

DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:

(Get your Vitamin C drops ready.)