About
#Quinning is a Twitter hashtag used to highlight photographs and stories in which various problems have been resolved through one’s sheer physical strength. The slang term is named after the U.S. Olympic bobsledder Johnny Quinn who became internet famous for busting through a door to free himself after getting locked in a bathroom at the Sochi Olympic Village in February 2014.
Origin
On February 8th, 2014, U.S. Olympic bobsledder and former NFL player Johnny Quinn tweeted a photograph of a heavily damaged bathroom door, which he had destroyed in order to free himself from being locked inside.
…With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out. #SochiJailBreakpic.twitter.com/apZRefgvCO
— Johnny Quinn (@JohnnyQuinnUSA) February 8, 2014
Quinn’s “bathroom door” photo, which arrived at the height of #SochiProblems, instantly went viral on Twitter and elsewhere, garnering more than 25,000 retweets within the first few hours.
Spread
That same day, Quinn’s tweet was promptly picked up by the AFP[6], NBC News[2], USA Today[3], The Huffington Post[4] and Mashable[5] as part of their round-up coverage of #SochiProblems. Then on February 10th, Quinn found himself locked behind doors once again, this time, along with his teammate Nick Cunningham and bobsled director David Cripps, in an elevator in their hotel building. Quinn’s streak of bad luck was subsequently tweeted by both Cunningham[7] and Cripps, which drew even more attention to the athlete’s bathroom door incident from the night before. According to KHOU-TV, the three men were rescued shortly after tweeting the photos.
Of course I'm with
JohnnyQuinnUSA</a> when the elevator door breaks and we get stuck! Good thing I'm with him! <a href="http://t.co/cnVQlDgQV4">pic.twitter.com/cnVQlDgQV4</a></p>— Nick Cunningham (BOBSLEDR) February 10, 2014
Shortly after the elevator photo began circulating online, Twitter user @GeorgeMag[9] declared #Quinning a new trend.
JohnnyQuinnUSA</a> New trend <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Quinning&src=hash">#Quinning</a> Break the Doors down.</p>— George (georgemag) February 10, 2014
Notable Examples
In the following days, a handful of photos illustrating overly physical approaches to everyday problem-solving surfaced on the site with the hashtag #Quinning,[10] such as opening plastic blister packs or clamshell packaging by puncturing a hole through the surface (shown below). While the build-up of its momentum on Twitter has been gradual at best, by February 16th, the hashtag had been declared “a new thing” by a number of news outlets, including BBC[11], ABC News[12] and The Economic Times,[13] providing further boost to its social media profile.
— Claudia (@oucrimsongirl) February 17, 2014
EricKingNBC5</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCDFW">NBCDFW No scissors handy, only nail clippers. Won't stop me from opening package! #Quinningpic.twitter.com/rpDWYZogDE
So the husby decided to go all
JohnnyQuinnUSA</a> on this bottle of Moscato... <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23quinning&src=hash">#quinning</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23datenight&src=hash">#datenight</a> <a href="http://t.co/UIPohrmPxu">pic.twitter.com/UIPohrmPxu</a></p>— irma (whatsanirma) February 16, 2014
Search Interest
[not yet available]
External References
[1]Twitter – @JohnnyQuinn’s Tweet
[2]NBC News – Bobsledder Johnny Quinn Breaks Through Locked Door
[3]USA Today – USA bobsledder locked in his bathroom destroys door, takes a picture
[4]The Huffington Post – Johnny Quinn Had To Break Down His Jammed Bathroom Door Because Sochi
[5]Mashable – Sochi Problem? No Problem: Bobsledder Demolishes Jammed Bathroom Door
[6]AFP– US bobsledder Quinn becomes a catchphrase
[7]Twitter – @NickCunningham’s Tweet
[8]Topsy – Social Analytics for TOPSY
[9]Twitter – @GeorgeMag’s Tweet
[10]Twitter – Tagged results for ‘#Quinning’
[11]BBC Sport – Sochi 2014: Women’s curling – GB
[12]ABC News – Winter Olympics 2014: Bobsledder Johnny Quinn’s Meme #Quinning Sweeps Internet
[13]The Economic Times – Sochi Olympics: Johnny Quinn becomes an internet rage, fog plays havoc