Item: “ERTW!” (Engineers Rule the World!)

• Oral Folklore: saying, tradition
• English
• Canada

Informant Data:

Emily Whiting is a Dartmouth computer science assistant professor from Toronto, Canada. She has degrees in engineering, computational design, and computer graphics.

Contextual Data:

The informant first heard the saying “ERTW!” during her time at the University of Toronto. It stands for “Engineers Rule the World.” It was traditionally repeated by many of her engineering classmates to inspire or to celebrate. For instance, one might say it while working on a particularly difficult group project in order to encourage everyone to continue working, or after finishing said project to congratulate group members. The informant also noted that this saying may be exclusive to her university, as she has not heard it during her time at Dartmouth.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

“ERTW!”

Informant’s Comments:

The informant states that engineering is a very difficult, very problem-oriented field. Therefore, the use of the phrase helps to motivate those pursuing a degree in engineering despite how tough it may get.

Collector’s Comments:

This saying falls under the motif of community-building, since it develops a sense of greater purpose within computer engineers. There are similar phrases for other communities– for instance, the saying “the geek shall inherit the earth”– which unites the members of its group with a larger shared goal.

Tags/Keywords:

sayings, phrases, traditions