About
“Swole” is slang term referring to having large or well defined musculature as a side effect from lifting weights.
Origin
An anonymous Urban Dictionary[1] user submitted an entry for “swole” on June 2nd, 2003, which defined the term as “being jacked,” a label for someone who has large muscles.
Spread
On October 21st, 2010, the Tumblr[9] blog “Swole Foods” was created, featuring posts containing photos and recipes for post-workout meals. On March 28th, 2012, the “Get Swole” Tumblr[10] was launched, which featured photographs of bodybuilders and inspirational quotes related to lifting weights and physical fitness. On May 26th, the /r/swoleacceptance[3] subreddit was created, which served as a forum for muscular individuals to discuss prejudice they experience in day-to-day life for being physically fit. On October 17th, the youth culture blog Vice[7] published a post titled “Swole,” featuring several photographs of bodybuilders posing. Post related to lifting and physical fitness can be found on Tumblr[8] under the tag “#swole.”
