r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • Jul 08 '26

Society Bryan Johnson, the millionaire biohacker who wants to live forever, diagnosed with incurable autoimmune disease

https://www.techspot.com/news/113035-bryan-johnson-millionaire-biohacker-who-wants-live-forever.html
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534

u/dantevonlocke Jul 08 '26

Hoisted by his own petard.

27

u/vfw_999 Jul 08 '26

Completely unrelated. I’m not from the US and had never heard this expression. Now within minutes I saw it used twice. The first one was on [r/guitarcirclejerk](r/guitarcirclejerk) of all places 😂

Edit: I guess I should have said English is my second language

25

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Chrysocyn Jul 08 '26

I just realized I had heard the phrase all my life and never bothered to ask what it actually meant.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/becs1832 Jul 08 '26

I guess I just assumed that in the old days a petard was a special outfit like a leotard but with a lot of fancy buckles and loops on it, and that rich people would wear them when they were feeling especially smug. But then poor people would tie a rope through one of the loops and hoist them up a pole and then let them dangle there as punishment for being cocky.

5

u/Graffiacane Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

That was almost exactly my guess as well. "Hoisted" pretty much always means "lifted with a pulley or crane" so my mental image was someone being lifted by a crane hook caught in the seat of their court jester pantaloons.

...wait are you a bot? Why is your comment an exact copy of this other one. Explain yourself. https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/s/vmG7VSuEc2

2

u/becs1832 Jul 08 '26

Hahahaha it is a quote from Community - Britta says it and Jeff replies "Never look it up - your explanation is way better". But I DID think the same as you and Britta and many many other people

1

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Jul 08 '26

I always thought a petard was sort of like a halberd or something, so a different way of saying falling on your own sword (though that actually usually more means suicide than some type of accident)

1

u/LetterNo7829 Jul 08 '26

I imagined this too

1

u/Herazim Jul 08 '26

Still is called that in other languages but is mostly used for firecrackers.

1

u/spekt50 Jul 08 '26

Always thought it was "Foisted" not "Hoisted"

Foisted meaning to have something done to someone without their wishes. Hoisted means to be lifted.

0

u/DesecratedPeanut Jul 08 '26

Love this as a translation for Americans, words they can understand.

-1

u/ARoundForEveryone Jul 08 '26

Or, for the more Reddit-y folks: jerked himself off until he had a heart attack.

-1

u/Kermit-Batman Jul 08 '26

Or the aoe 2 folks, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm 200elo bomby boys go boom now!

13

u/Vio_ Jul 08 '26

Ironic given that "petard" is a super French word for being in English.

6

u/SnugglyBuffalo Jul 08 '26

English has a lot of super French loan words. C'est la vie.

4

u/AmericanDoughboy Jul 08 '26

William the Conquerer says “de rien.”

3

u/ChickenCasagrande Jul 08 '26

England and France are only separated by a narrow channel of water. People can swim across, though I would not recommend it.

1

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Jul 08 '26

Cafe, boutique, RSVP, faux pas to name a few

2

u/RadarSmith Jul 08 '26

New idiom unlocked haha.

1

u/vfw_999 Jul 08 '26

For sure. I learned something today. Time for a beer

2

u/RadarSmith Jul 08 '26

If you're interested in etymology, it comes from Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

2

u/314R8 Jul 08 '26

The baader meinhoff phenomenon lol

1

u/-ElectricKoolAid Jul 08 '26

these coincidences are the tangible patterns of reality similar to geometric shapes formed by sand on a vibrating plate

or something like that

1

u/iscreamuscreamweall Jul 08 '26

thats called Baader–Meinhof phenomenon

101

u/pheonix198 Jul 08 '26

Yo, sir! That’s not chill. You’re not supposed to call people that name any more!

56

u/Top_Shame_7016 Jul 08 '26

Some comedians say it's ok again, so i don't know who to believe

19

u/1ce9ine Jul 08 '26

They helped to elect Trump on this platform, I believe

-2

u/NoConflict3231 Jul 08 '26

If thats who you think qualifies as a comedian, I'm afraid to see who you think isn't funny

1

u/1ce9ine Jul 08 '26

Comedian is a noun. Funny is an adjective.

2

u/NoConflict3231 Jul 08 '26

Joe Rogan is not a comedian

1

u/littlebrwnrobot Jul 08 '26

i was told those comedians had been cancelled and therefore had no voice

1

u/SlimySquamata Jul 08 '26

I hear he's such a rabble rouser.

2

u/MHanky Jul 08 '26

He also wears polyester trousers.

-4

u/jbaranski Jul 08 '26

lol!

But on a serious note, probably not someone who is financially incentivized to say it.

24

u/DistillerCMac Jul 08 '26

That accusation is explosive.

7

u/devillurker Jul 08 '26

Its not their fault they're just born with a lack of oxygen

2

u/Gentelman_Asshole Jul 08 '26

Isn't that the guy who owns the Enterprise - John-Luc Petard?

1

u/samhouse09 Jul 08 '26

A petard is a bomb!

1

u/Regular_Custard_4483 Jul 08 '26

This reminds me of the Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.

"Look, I know that word is coming back around, but not in this house."

Or something like that. Shit is hilarious.

-5

u/RandoAtReddit Jul 08 '26

He's petarded.

10

u/odoylerulezx Jul 08 '26

Shouldn't have worn that petard if you didnt want to be hoisted by it

11

u/ShmoMoney Jul 08 '26

What do you think the expression "hoisted by your own petard" is referencing?

8

u/odoylerulezx Jul 08 '26

I guess I just assume that in the old days a petard was a special outfit like a leotard with a lot of fancy buckles and loops on it. And that rich people would wear them when they were feeling especially smug. But then poor people could tie a rope to one of the loops and hoist them up a pole and then let them dangle there as punishment for being cocky.

13

u/ShmoMoney Jul 08 '26

Never look it up, your explanation is way better

1

u/sageberrytree Jul 08 '26

I can’t decide whether I think you are being serious or not. But I think the mental image is absolutely hilarious so you get kudos for creativity!

Now I think we should start a threat about what we all think. “hoisted on his own petard“ actually means.

Let’s see how amazing we can get

5

u/CapedBaldyman Jul 08 '26

They're quoting a scene from the show Community. This is word for word what a character says. 

2

u/bikeking8 Jul 08 '26

Accurate! This immediately reminded me of the old podcast "Important if True" haha

2

u/UndeadT Jul 08 '26

Actually, it's his son's transfused petard.

2

u/Big_Biscotti5119 Jul 08 '26

That’s quite a name to call his son

1

u/lee4man Jul 08 '26

2026 and this is the greatest and most apropos use of this phrase imaginable. Bully to you, sir or madam.

1

u/TheDrummerMB Jul 08 '26

He's pretty open that his goal is research - he's spoken about how what he's doing to himself is likely worse than drinking and smoking.

Redditors love to feel superior tho

1

u/Immature_adult_guy Jul 08 '26

He’s a petard for sure

1

u/The_80s_were_strange Jul 08 '26

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase I'd have two nickels, which isn't alot but its strange that its happened twice.

-6

u/ElricBrosPlumbing Jul 08 '26

Don’t call his son that. I think it’s pronounced “retard”