For the past week, social media has been flooded with folks calling each other naysayers in contexts where it really looks like "naysayer" should be replaced with another word that starts with N. For this, we have Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe to thank, as well as a (white) ESPN anchor doing his best, to thank. Here's what "Naysayer" has meant online in January so far.

What Is "LANK," AKA "Let a Naysayer Know"?

"Let a Naysayer Know," or "LANK" for short, is the motto branded on the merchandise of University of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. Perhaps intentionally, the phrase is extremely similar to another common phrase in which the "N" is replaced with The N Word.

This sort of SFW wink to a not-so-safe phrase came to a head on January 1st when Alabama was slated to play Michigan in the College Football playoff. Ahead of the game, ESPN anchor Rece Davis gamely opened a segment about Milroe's merchandise line, dutifully reading "Let a Naysayer Know" with a straight face.

Unfortunately, his co-anchors couldn't keep a straight face, and began cracking up at Davis reading "Let a naysayer know." Many joked they thought that Davis was about to drop a racial slur on live television, helping the clip go viral on social media.

@espn Let a naysayer know! 🤣 #collegefootball #football #alabamafootball ♬ original sound – ESPN

How Has "Let A Naysayer Know" Been Memed?

As the clip spread, sports fans and eventually others joked about it by replacing well-known uses of the N-word from pop culture with the word "Naysayer." These often involved parodies of famous movie quotes.

From there, it's been adopted as a general replacement for the N-word, particularly among Black Twitter users (thankfully, there doesn't appear to be a lot of white people using naysayer as a sort of N-word pass a la "My brother in Christ").

Naysayer hit that big Taker dive https://t.co/Q0byF1gujs

— Zombie HF (@HoodFoot418) January 3, 2024

Houston!
Rookie QB.
Rookie Head Coach.
Playoff Bound!
LET A NAYSAYER KNOW!

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 7, 2024

The meme continues to see use well after Alabama lost their game to Michigan, so it's possible it'll see use well into 2024, despite what naysayers may think.

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For more information, check out the article on Naysayer on Know Your Meme.