Depending on whom you ask, the phrase “I just threw up in my mouth a little” originated from 2004’s Dodgeball, Jim Benton’s Happy Bunny keychains, or countless other comedic sources culled from hearsay and half-remembered dreams.

It was funny (six years ago) for the same reasons anything is funny: incongruity and universality. Having the urge to throw up, then not throwing up after all is something that, while unexplainable, has happened to everyone. (My brother and I called it “the sour splash” as kids.) Despite that relatable quality, the saying caught on because it’s also something that no one talks about in polite conversation. Hence, the element of incongruity essential to comedy.

It also existed as a non-joke: an understated, straight-man cap or button to something someone else said. It presented an aloof but sincerely disgusted tone that not many people can master. (It makes sense that some people credit an old Steve Carell Daily Show feature, since aloof but sincere is exactly what he does.) So it was original in theory, context, and practice.

Now that the saying has passed its expiration date, it does none of those things. It’s not original, and it’s a feeling that is now laid out on the social table. I’m not going to laugh anymore if you say this to me. In fact, the saying itself makes me want to…I don’t know. Something else.