Idioms for fetch
Origin of fetch
1synonym study for fetch
OTHER WORDS FROM fetch
fetch·er, nounWords nearby fetch
Definition for fetch (2 of 2)
Origin of fetch
2ABOUT THIS WORD
What else does fetch mean?
Fetch is slang for “cool” or “awesome” and is not, in fact, from England.
It started as a joke in the movie Mean Girls, only to catch on off-screen.
Where does fetch come from?
Fetch dates back to before the year 1000, when it showed up in Old English as fecc(e)an. It’s related to the German fassen which means to grasp. Back then (and now, if you’re going with the typical definition), fetch typically meant to get or return with an object.
It wasn’t until April 2004, when the movie Mean Girls was released in theaters, that fetch the slang word totally happened.
The movie about a group of high school girls launched the phrase so fetch into the lexicon, thanks to character Gretchen Weiners (played by Lacey Chabert) who spent much of the flick declaring things she liked were “so fetch.” In a now iconic scene, head mean girl Regina George (played by Rachel McAdams) snaps at Gretchen, telling her to “stop trying to make fetch happen.”
Mean Girls creator Tina Fey has said she’s sorry for adding the word to the movie, telling the Today Show, “I want to apologize to the world for fetch. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
But it looks like Gretchen got the last laugh.
So fetch has caught on, especially among fans of the cult classic. Mean Girls has since been turned into a Broadway show where so fetch is said multiple times per showing.
How is fetch used in real life?
The internet loves to call its favorite things “so fetch.” This goes double for anything that’s pink on a Wednesday—a nod to another famous Mean Girls quote.
I’m so proud of Harry for wearing pink on a wednesday he’s a true Mean Girls stan. That suit of his is so ~fetch~ pic.twitter.com/5JkkpOh7zp
— ashlee (@ashleedaniellee) April 5, 2018
When things aren’t so fetch, fans are using the hashtag #MakeFetchHappen.
The best towel hooks ever. #MakeFetchHappen pic.twitter.com/8ARxQ7fTYM
— Henry Baker (@henraldo) September 27, 2018
More examples of fetch:
“In “Mean Girls,” Gretchen Wieners didn’t make “fetch” (for the non-Plastics among you: fetch roughly equates to cool/awesome) happen, much to the satisfaction of queen bee Regina George. But a decade later, the social media age has.”
—Carla Correa, FiveThirtyEight, August 2014
Note
This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.