break the Internet

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#1·1d ago

(computing, idiomatic, figuratively, humorous) To overwhelm a web server through organic user-driven demand, such that the server goes offline or is in danger of doing so.

: “Click on everything including graphics, buttons, and links, to see where they lead. Don't be afraid to get lost, and don't worry about making mistakes. 'You can't break the Internet,' says Warren Shaver, project manager for ASTD Onlin…

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#2·1d ago

(computing, idiomatic, figuratively) To deliberately overwhelm a web server through a cyberattack such as a DDOS, such that the server goes offline or is in danger of doing so.

Advocacy groups warned that entertainment companies—who invested heavily in lobbying for the bills—where trying to “break the Internet”;

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#3·1d ago

(chiefly, US, idiomatic, colloquial, literally) To cause a connection to the Internet, or the Internet itself, to malfunction.

1996 Sacha Cohen, John Makulowich, Warren Shaver, Training & Development (cited in 2016 Merriam-Webster.com, "[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/break-the-internet Words We're Watching: Break the Internet]"):

Origin: The early use of the phrase (around the mid-1990s) refers to literally breaking the Internet connection of a single device. It also refers to breaking the World Wide Web or the Internet itself, with the implication that it would be impossible or implausible to do so in most ordinary contexts. A figurative usage of the phrase emerged in the early 2000s. Rather than the Internet or an Internet connection literally breaking, the figurative meaning describes a web server becoming overwhelmed by a surge in organic, non-malicious web traffic. It can also describe a deliberate, malicious attempt t. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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