The internet meme “do a barrel roll” is typically used as a description for pictures or animated gifs showing humans, animals, or objects turning 360 degrees (or attempting to). Additionally, it’s a mocking reaction to inquiries made online.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF A BARREL ROLL?
Real-world aeronautical maneuvers like the barrel roll involve turning an aircraft once around its longitudinal axis. During the early years of dogfighting in the 1920s, the phrase began to gain popularity.
The 1997 video game Star Fox 64, where a character by the name of Peppy Hare continuously demands that the player make the maneuver to avoid being hit by lasers, is where the expression “do a barrel roll” is said to have originated, according to Know Your Meme. The persistent urgency of Peppy’s demand served as the basis for the internet meme.
Unfortunately, the movement displayed in Star Fox isn’t a roll at all, but rather a separate move known as an aileron roll, as Kyle Hill of Discover pointed out in April 2014.
The situation was made worse by Hill’s further (and lengthy) explanation that the aileron roll probably wouldn’t even be useful in defending a spaceship. When someone encourages you to execute a aileron roll, there is likely sarcasm involved due to the trick’s alleged ridiculousness or lack of utility.
In the early 2000s, the meme first gained popularity on the message board 4chan. It was primarily used to caption pictures or animated gifs showing people, animals, and things rolling around entirely or trying to roll around.
EXAMPLES OF DOING A BARREL ROLL
“When you don’t know what to do, just breath [sic] and keep calm. After that, do a barrel roll.”
Shirayuki31 @EwigChrysse Twitter (January 23, 2017)
“People also search for do a barrel roll twice and thrice but nothing gets executed, so don’t do that it is waste of time. You may check this for your satisfaction.”
Avanish Singh, “\make a aileron roll and other making crazy google searches,” The Toppers Way (September 10, 2015)
BARREL ROLL IS USED BY WHO?
The first entry on Urban Dictionary, from January 30, 2004, also suggests doing a aileron roll as a humorous all-purpose response to queries about “life, the universe, and everything.” You might ask for guidance, for instance, if a friend says, “I’m so unprepared for tomorrow’s final. What should I do?”) with “Do a barrel roll,” would be a useless response.
Even outside of image boards, the popularity of this now-decade-old meme is still strong today. On social media, people continue to use it as a general response. Sometimes, rather than merely in a picture or animated gif, it’s used to describe something or someone literally rolling over.
It casually refers as a non-sequitur online. Commenters demand the person playing “do a barrel roll!” during live streaming, to see whether they’ll do it or not.
Google joined the trend in November 2011 by including an easter egg in their search results. When you enter “do a barrel roll,” the entire results page rotates 360 degrees.
Tips to do barrel rolls on a Chromebook.
Play around with your Chromebook a little. Discover a hidden Easter egg on your keyboard by watching this video and following the instructions below.
Step 1
To Press and Hold : Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Rotate
Step 2
The window that opened on your chromebook will do a barrel roll.
Step 3
Rad.
