Last week Harris Wittels, the man who coined the phrase “humblebrag”, died at the unconscionable age of 30. In his memory I’ve been sifting through some of the finest examples of this specious genre — the boast that pretends not to be one — and have come up with two favourites.
My second best is Stephen Fry’s tweet from 2013: “Oh dear. Don’t know what to do at the airport. Huge crowd, but I’ll miss my plane if I stop and do photos . . . oh dear don’t want to disappoint.”
But my runaway first choice is from Oprah Winfrey. “OMG! Just had a SURPRISE date with Jackie Jackson. My teen idol heartthrob. Tried not to talk too much or eat too much. Succeeded at neither!”