TikTokers are freaking out after discovering the origins of the term ‘bucket list’: ‘Mandela Effect in full force here’
When did the term “bucket list” become a thing?
That’s the question on millions of TikTokers’ minds, thanks to one woman’s viral video.
On Feb. 22, user Sam Doll (@sam_d0ll) shared a clip that now has so many viewers scratching their heads. In it, she explained that the term “bucket list” — which refers to a list of things someone wants to do before they die — is actually much newer than people think.
The information, which Doll says her boyfriend recently shared with her, was so shocking that she couldn’t help but make a video about it.
“What if I told you the term didn’t exist before the movie The Bucket List came out in 2007,” Doll says in the video, quoting her boyfriend.
The TikToker goes on to explain that although she assumed the term was several decades old, it’s actually a rather new phenomenon.
The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, follows two men dying of terminal cancer who decide to live life to the fullest before “kicking the bucket.” The phrase was reportedly coined by the movie’s screenwriter, Justin Zackham, who in 1999 wrote himself a list of once-in-a-lifetime experiences called “Justin’s List of Things to Do Before I Kick the Bucket.”
It wasn’t until the movie’s release, Doll says, that the term gained widespread notoriety.
“Before this movie, there is nothing on the internet, nothing on Google Books … and people have been looking,” Doll says. “But no one can find any proof that this word was used before 2007.”
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Doll’s claim isn’t exactly accurate, but it’s close. According to Slate, a 2004 book by Patrick M. Carlisle seems to be the actual first source of the phrase as a reference to a list of activities to accomplish before you die. Before that, the term had other meanings, such as in computer programming.
Still, it seems the word’s popularity is much more recent than most TikTokers assumed. Many called the revelation an example of the “Mandela effect,” which refers to when a large group of people experience a shared, incorrect memory — such as the spelling of The Berenstain Bears, or when former South African president Nelson Mandela actually died.
“I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t even know there was a movie called The Bucket List,” one user wrote.
“Lots of people remember saying it. No one has proof. The actual definition of MANDELA EFFECT in full force here,” another added.
The concept has consistently been a source of intrigue for TikTokers. Months ago, Harry Potter fans took to the app to discuss a movie scene that seemingly none of them remembered watching as children.
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