A thought-terminating cliché is a phrase that ends critical thinking and replaces analysis with feeling.
They’re the rhetorical equivalent of ctrl+W on your brain’s browser tab. Below you’ll find a
comprehensive field guide to deploying them effectively, organized by outrage category. Memorize them.
You will be tested. (Just kidding. There is no test. Tests are a tool of the patriarchy.)
🛑 Immigration & ICE
Deploy when federal agents are doing anything within 500 miles of an immigrant.
“No one is illegal on stolen land”
When to deploy: Any immigration enforcement. Bonus points at award shows.
Notable usage: Billie Eilish, Grammys 2026
“Abolish ICE”
When to deploy: ICE does literally anything.
Notable usage: AOC, every press conference since 2018
“No human is illegal”
When to deploy: Variant of the above for when you want to sound slightly more measured.
Notable usage: Elie Wiesel quote repurposed for protest signs
“Say her name / Say his name”
When to deploy: Someone dies during an encounter with law enforcement. Gender-swap as needed.
Notable usage: Breonna Taylor protests, Louisville 2020
“First they came for the immigrants”
When to deploy: New immigration policy announced. Pair with Niemöller quote for maximum impact.
Notable usage: Every blue-check Twitter account, January 20 2025
“Protect your neighbors”
When to deploy: ICE spotted in your area. Post on Nextdoor immediately.
Notable usage: Nextdoor posts across Los Angeles, February 2025
“No one is illegal”
When to deploy: Shortened bumper sticker version. Fits on a lawn sign.
Notable usage: Lawn signs, Portland OR (permanently installed)
“Cages for Christmas”
When to deploy: Immigration enforcement continues during a holiday. Any holiday.
Notable usage: AOC photo op at border facility, 2019
✊ Racial & Social Justice
The foundation of any protest sign. Mix and match freely.
“No justice, no peace”
When to deploy: Any police shooting, court verdict, or policy you disagree with.
Notable usage: George Floyd protests, every US city, 2020
“Silence is violence”
When to deploy: Someone hasn’t posted about the current thing on Instagram yet.
Notable usage: Instagram black squares, Blackout Tuesday 2020
“Your silence is complicity”
When to deploy: Variant of the above for LinkedIn posts.
Notable usage: LinkedIn thinkpieces, June 2020 (all of them)
“The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice”
When to deploy: You lost but need to feel hopeful. Attribute to MLK even though it’s Theodore Parker.
Notable usage: Obama, every third speech
“Do the work”
When to deploy: Someone asks you to explain your position. You shouldn’t have to.
Notable usage: Robin DiAngelo’s entire career
“Educate yourself”
When to deploy: See above, but angrier.
Notable usage: Twitter, 24/7/365 since 2015
“Check your privilege”
When to deploy: Someone disagrees with you and they’re the wrong demographic.
Notable usage: Tal Fortgang’s Princeton essay that launched a thousand op-eds, 2014
“This is not normal”
When to deploy: Something has been happening continuously for six years.
Notable usage: Dan Rather, 2017–present (still going)
“Believe all women”
When to deploy: Accusations against someone you don’t like. Shelf as needed.
Notable usage: Christine Blasey Ford hearings, 2018; quietly shelved for Tara Reade
“Impact over intent”
When to deploy: Someone apologized but you’re not done with them yet.
Notable usage: Every corporate DEI training PowerPoint, 2020–2024
“That’s problematic”
When to deploy: Universal solvent. Works on jokes, movies, opinions, lunch choices.
Notable usage: Tumblr discourse, 2012–present
“Stay in your lane”
When to deploy: Someone outside the affected group has an opinion.
Notable usage: Twitter ratio’d responses to any white person discussing race
“Center the voices of the marginalized”
When to deploy: You want someone else to speak at the panel instead.
Notable usage: Every SXSW panel moderator, annually
“Lived experience”
When to deploy: Anecdote that cannot be questioned because feelings are data.
Notable usage: Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings, 2022
“Decolonize your bookshelf / diet / yoga practice”
When to deploy: Apply to literally any noun for instant moral authority.
Notable usage: Instagram infographic carousels, June 2020
“Diversity is our strength”
When to deploy: Company headcount photo. City council meeting. Anywhere demographics are visible.
Notable usage: Justin Trudeau, perpetually
💰 Economic Outrage
For when capitalism does what capitalism does.
“Eat the rich”
When to deploy: Any news about billionaires. Also brunch conversation.
Notable usage: Aerosmith song, repurposed by TikTok as a political anthem
“Billionaires shouldn’t exist”
When to deploy: Elon tweets. Bezos breathes. Any Tuesday.
Notable usage: Bernie Sanders, every debate stage, 2019–2020
“Tax the rich, not groceries”
When to deploy: Grocery prices go up. Don’t ask about the tariffs you supported.
Notable usage: AOC’s Met Gala dress, 2021
“Late-stage capitalism”
When to deploy: A hospital bill arrives. A corporation does a pride float. Anything, really.
Notable usage: r/antiwork, daily since 2021
“Both parties serve capital”
When to deploy: Democrats did something you don’t like but you can’t bring yourself to praise Republicans.
Notable usage: Cornel West presidential campaign, 2024
“Free trade is a scam”
When to deploy: Tariffs exist. Also when tariffs don’t exist.
Notable usage: Bernie Sanders, NAFTA debates, 1993 and every year since
“The economy is just vibes”
When to deploy: Economic data contradicts your narrative.
Notable usage: Kyla Scanlon coining "vibecession," 2023
“It was always about the oil”
When to deploy: Any foreign policy development in an oil-producing nation.
Notable usage: Iraq war protests, global, February 2003
“Healthcare is a human right”
When to deploy: Hospital bill. Insurance denial. Stubbed toe. The bar is flexible.
Notable usage: Bernie Sanders holding a giant poster on the Senate floor, 2017
“Housing is a human right”
When to deploy: Rent went up. Also rent stayed the same but vibes are off.
Notable usage: UN Human Rights Council (technically correct, the best kind)
“___ is a human right”
When to deploy: Fill in the blank with literally anything you want to be free. WiFi. Avocados. Whatever.
Notable usage: Twitter discourse, perpetual (WiFi was a real one)
“Capitalism is the virus”
When to deploy: Pandemic, recession, or any Tuesday where you feel exploited.
Notable usage: Protest signs during COVID lockdowns, 2020
“The system isn’t broken, it was built this way”
When to deploy: You want to sound radical without proposing a specific solution.
Notable usage: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
“True communism has never been tried”
When to deploy: Someone points out that every communist state devolved into authoritarianism. That wasn’t real communism. Next time will be different.
Notable usage: Every college sophomore, every dorm room, since 1848
🗳 Electoral & Democracy
Democracy is sacred until the wrong person wins.
“Vote blue no matter who”
When to deploy: General election approaches. Immediately contradict during the primary.
Notable usage: DNC convention floor chant, every cycle since 2004
“No more lesser evils”
When to deploy: Primary season. Directly contradicts the above.
Notable usage: Uncommitted movement, Michigan primary, 2024
“Vote them all out”
When to deploy: Both parties disappointed you, which is always.
Notable usage: Tea Party origins, co-opted by progressives by 2018
“Elections have consequences”
When to deploy: Your side lost and you want to blame non-voters.
Notable usage: Obama to Eric Cantor, 2009
“Not me, us”
When to deploy: Fundraising email. Bernie context optional but preferred.
Notable usage: Bernie Sanders campaign slogan and ActBlue subject line, 2020
“Democracy is not a spectator sport”
When to deploy: Year-end fundraising push. Pair with a thermometer graphic.
Notable usage: ActBlue fundraising emails, Q4 every election year
“Another world is possible”
When to deploy: Your candidate won a city council race somewhere.
Notable usage: World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, 2001
“Never forget January 6”
When to deploy: Anniversary, or any day a Republican does something authoritarian.
Notable usage: Every liberal bumper sticker since 2021
🕊 Anti-War & Foreign Policy
War is bad unless the right people are doing it, in which case it’s complicated.
“No blood for oil”
When to deploy: US military does anything in the Middle East or Latin America.
Notable usage: Million-person march, London and Rome, February 2003
“War is peace”
When to deploy: You want to sound literary while tweeting about drone strikes.
Notable usage: George Orwell, 1984; every protest sign at every rally since
“Mission accomplished”
When to deploy: Any foreign intervention shows signs of failure. Pair with ironic Bush photo.
Notable usage: Bush on the aircraft carrier, May 2003 (the meme that keeps giving)
“The US doesn’t start wars, it finishes them (citation needed)”
When to deploy: Regime change is being called liberation again.
Notable usage: Noam Chomsky lectures at MIT, 1970–present
“Who are we to spread democracy at gunpoint?”
When to deploy: The intervention is in a country you can find on a map.
Notable usage: College campus teach-ins, perpetually
🌍 Climate & Environment
The planet is dying but at least we have canvas tote bags.
“There is no Planet B”
When to deploy: Climate report drops. Oil company posts earnings.
Notable usage: Greta Thunberg’s original school strike sign, Stockholm 2018
“Listen to the science”
When to deploy: The science agrees with your policy preference.
Notable usage: Greta Thunberg to the US Congress, 2019
“We are the last generation that can fix this”
When to deploy: Every generation since 1970.
Notable usage: Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006 (also said in 1992, 1988, 1980...)
“System change, not climate change”
When to deploy: You want to sound radical at the farmers market.
Notable usage: Extinction Rebellion protests, London, 2019
“Keep the oil in the ground”
When to deploy: Any energy policy discussion. Also pipeline protests, drilling permits, or whenever gas prices are low enough that nobody cares about their commute costs.
Notable usage: Standing Rock Sioux protest, Dakota Access Pipeline, 2016
🤝 Movement & Solidarity
For when individual action isn’t enough but you’re not sure what collective action looks like.
“When we fight, we win”
When to deploy: You won something. Ignore the 47 times you fought and lost.
Notable usage: United Farm Workers rallies, Cesar Chavez era
“The people, united, will never be defeated”
When to deploy: March chant. Works in English or Spanish.
Notable usage: Women’s March, Washington DC, January 2017
“Strike! Strike! Strike!”
When to deploy: Labor action of any kind. Also a Whole Foods opened in your neighborhood.
Notable usage: UAW picket lines, Stand Up Strike, 2023
“Protect the press”
When to deploy: A journalist gets arrested. Preferably a famous one.
Notable usage: CPJ campaign after Jamal Khashoggi murder, 2018
“Solidarity forever”
When to deploy: Union stuff. Also a great singalong after three beers.
Notable usage: Pete Seeger at every labor rally, 1940–2014
“An injury to one is an injury to all”
When to deploy: Something bad happened to someone in your coalition.
Notable usage: IWW preamble, 1905 (still slaps)
“We see you”
When to deploy: Acknowledgment that is either deeply validating or vaguely threatening depending on context.
Notable usage: Awards show acceptance speeches, universally
“Hold space for ___”
When to deploy: Sit quietly while someone talks. Revolutionary.
Notable usage: Corporate wellness seminars and therapy-speak Instagram
“Amplify marginalized voices”
When to deploy: Retweet someone. You are now an ally.
Notable usage: Instagram story reshares, June 2020 (peak allyship)
🚫 Catch-All Shutdown Phrases
When you need to end a conversation immediately without addressing the actual point.
“It’s not my job to educate you”
When to deploy: You don’t have a counterargument but refuse to admit it.
Notable usage: Twitter, 2015–present (millions of deployments)
“The system is the problem”
When to deploy: Literally any problem. Root cause analysis complete.
Notable usage: Angela Davis lectures, UCLA and beyond
“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”
When to deploy: Someone seems calm about something you’re not calm about.
Notable usage: Heather Heyer memorial, Charlottesville, 2017
“I can’t even”
When to deploy: Emotional capacity exceeded. Close Twitter.
Notable usage: Tumblr, 2013; normalized across all platforms by 2016
“Do better”
When to deploy: Someone apologized but not in the exact way you wanted.
Notable usage: Quote-tweet ratio’d responses to every corporate apology
“Google it”
When to deploy: See also: educate yourself, do the work.
Notable usage: Every internet argument since 2010
“That’s a microaggression”
When to deploy: Someone said something that wasn’t offensive but you felt a feeling.
Notable usage: Derald Wing Sue, Columbia University research, 2007
“We need to have a conversation about this”
When to deploy: There will be no conversation. There will be a lecture.
Notable usage: Every CNN panel intro, 2015–present
“Rules for thee, not for me”
When to deploy: A powerful person got away with something. Use for either side as needed.
Notable usage: Gavin Newsom, French Laundry dinner, November 2020
“Lock him up”
When to deploy: Originally ironic. Now sincere. Full circle.
Notable usage: Women’s March, Washington DC, January 2017
“You’re on the wrong side of history”
When to deploy: The nuclear option. Implies you can see the future and your opponent is a historical villain. Devastating at Thanksgiving.
Notable usage: Obama on marriage equality, 2012
“The personal is political”
When to deploy: Your lifestyle choices are activism. Buying oat milk is praxis.
Notable usage: Carol Hanisch essay, 1969; every Instagram bio since 2019
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”
When to deploy: Someone is minding their own business and you need them to stop.
Notable usage: Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice, 1968
“Nevertheless, she persisted”
When to deploy: A woman did something. Anything. Context irrelevant.
Notable usage: Mitch McConnell silencing Elizabeth Warren, Senate floor, 2017
“The future is female”
When to deploy: Merch. Also coffee mugs, bumper stickers, and LinkedIn bios.
Notable usage: Otherwild t-shirt; Hillary Clinton campaign merch, 2016
“When they go low, we go high”
When to deploy: You’re losing but want to feel morally superior about it. Shelf when going low feels better.
Notable usage: Michelle Obama, DNC keynote, 2016
“Speak truth to power”
When to deploy: You tweeted at a politician. Basically Rosa Parks.
Notable usage: Quaker origins, 1955; Anita Hill testimony, 1991
“I stand with ___”
When to deploy: Fill in the blank. Post to Instagram. Activism complete.
Notable usage: Facebook profile frame filters, every crisis since 2015
“Thoughts and prayers”
When to deploy: Used exclusively sarcastically now. The original meaning has been dead for years.
Notable usage: Every mass shooting response; fully sarcastic by Parkland, 2018
“Normalize ___”
When to deploy: Append to any behavior you personally do and want validation for.
Notable usage: Twitter, 2019–present (normalize normalizing things)
“Punch up, not down”
When to deploy: Comedy rules that apply to everyone except your side’s comedians.
Notable usage: Dave Chappelle Netflix special discourse, 2021
“Use your platform”
When to deploy: A celebrity hasn’t weighed in yet and you need them to.
Notable usage: Directed at Taylor Swift before she endorsed Democrats, 2018
“Read the room”
When to deploy: Someone made a joke at the wrong time. The room is always your room.
Notable usage: Will Smith/Chris Rock Oscars incident discourse, 2022
“Defund the police”
When to deploy: Any police incident. Later clarify you meant reallocate resources, not literally defund.
Notable usage: Minneapolis City Council after George Floyd, June 2020
“ACAB”
When to deploy: All cops, no exceptions. Unless one of them does something nice, then it’s copaganda.
Notable usage: Punk zines, 1980s; mainstream Twitter, summer 2020
“Dismantle the patriarchy”
When to deploy: A man spoke in a meeting.
Notable usage: Women’s March poster, most photographed sign of 2017
This reference is provided as a public service. The authors take no responsibility for friendships lost,
Thanksgiving dinners ruined, or Twitter accounts suspended as a result of deploying these phrases.
Use responsibly. Or don’t. Nobody’s reading the disclaimer anyway.