An oldie but goodie has sent Twitter into a frenzy with people paying homage to the phrase “over the shoulder boulder holder” in reference to women’s bras.

When Twitter user Tori Kent asked, “Has anyone else heard the phrase, “over the shoulder boulder holder,” in reference to bras? Or is it something my dad made up?”, she never could have imagined the response it would receive.

The internet united to remember where they’d heard the phrase for the first time.

That’s an oldie. And a jockstrap was referred to as an under butt nut hut. Seriously. I’m 60 now but in jr highschool we all thought we were fiendishly clever.✌️????

— RjbhasCassandra’sTears (@rjbez) July 17, 2022

The earliest reference I’ve heard was from the 1950’s so it’s safe to say your dad didn’t invent it lol

— ????????????Moontan Lotions & Potions, Inc.???????????? (@PumpkinWitch6) July 17, 2022

Yes, my Mum used to say it, when we were little. She used to make up words & phrases like ‘swippit, swappit, swummit, you are a barmy grummit’ so I thought she’d made it up too.

— Smithy (@somiesimth) July 18, 2022

It’s in my childhood memories, right alongside ‘budgie smuggler’.

— Ash Valler (@VallerAsh) July 17, 2022

I remember that from my mom from the 50’s. I think it’s been around before that as well. Haha. Haven’t heard it in a while though. Kinda the same generation who said, “See ya later, alligator,” and “After a while, crocodile.”

— Lady Patriot ???? (@ladeebloo) July 18, 2022

I last heard it from boys in junior high who thought they were quite clever.????????

— Barb V ???????????? (@barbvas) July 18, 2022

However, many people remember the phrase from a Bette Midler scene in the 1988 film Beaches.

It’s from the movie “Beaches” with @BetteMidler At least, that’s where I heard it first, thanks to “Otto Titsling” or something like that ????

— J.L. Delozier, Preorder THE PHOTO THIEF (@jldelozier) July 17, 2022

Well, he stitched and he slaved
And he slaved and he stitched
Until finally one night, in the wee hours of morning,
Otto arose from his workbench triumphant.
Yes! he had invented the worlds first
Over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder.
Hooray!https://t.co/NTbVV99m97

— Derek McCue (@ruamused) July 18, 2022

Prior to Bette Midler, there was, of course, the Ivor Biggun song “I wish I was”, which uses the expression. That dates from about 1979. I’d heard it before that. It’s probably fallen into disuse because an 8 syllable slang substitute for a one syllable word makes no sense.

— Ian Payn (@ianpayn) July 18, 2022

Not 24 hours ago I’d say I’d never heard this phrase, but something possessed me to watch Beaches (1988) last night and today I can track it to the Otto Titsling song

And this is the first tweet I see today? ????

The algorithm impresses … pic.twitter.com/jrMDtHCSux

— Fabiola Melendez Carletti (@fiercefab) July 18, 2022

While many people have different recollections on where “over the shoulder boulder holder” came from, one thing is for certain: it’s older than Beaches.

Perhaps it orginated somewhere in the 50s, when rhyming was a big part of slang. If you were bald you had a chrome dome, if your car had a big back seat you had a shag wag and if you used the back seat for any funny business you might be doing hanky panky.