History of the “my grandfather smoked his whole life” copypasta
This funny copypasta has been circulating since 2014:
My grandfather smoked his whole life. I was about 10 years old when my mother said to him, “If you ever want to see your grandchildren graduate, you have to stop immediately.” Tears welled up in his eyes when he realized what exactly was at stake. He gave it up immediately. Three years later he died of lung cancer. It was really sad and destroyed me. My mother said to me – “Don’t ever smoke. Please don’t put your family through what your grandfather put us through.” I agreed. At 28, I have never touched a cigarette. I must say, I feel a very slight sense of regret for never having done it, because this game gave me cancer anyway.
What is a copypasta? It’s a text meme spammed in various contexts, sometimes with minimal changes to suit the occasion.
This copypasta is well-known because it sets up a touching story, and then ends with a hilarious, sarcastic twist. It originated on the infamous 4chan message boards in early 2014, as many copypastas at the time did, and quickly made its way around the internet, from Facebook to Reddit to Twitch to Steam.
Where you’ll see it
This copypasta is a classic, and it’s stood the test of time, as you will still encounter it today. You’ll often see it in reviews of games, movies, and pretty much anything. Here are some hilarious places it’s been spotted:
IMDb review for Airplane Mode
Source: IMDb
Reddit complaint about a Cornell University web page
Source: Reddit
Metacritic review for Space Hunted
Source: Metacritic
Parting words
Like most copypastas, “my grandfather smoked his whole life” probably elicits a chuckle on the first encounter. Then as it shows up everywhere, it becomes stale and annoying rather quickly. But we’ve saved you the trouble, you’re now part of the enlightened folks that won’t get hoodwinked by this copypasta when browsing Steam reviews.