sure, Jan

phrase

Used sarcastically to express dismissal or disbelief in relation to a statement.

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Meanings

phrase
  1. InternetUsed sarcastically to express dismissal or disbelief in relation to a statement.

    70 yr old woman at work today talking to me about Blurred Lines: "It's just such a feel good tune!" .... Sure, Jan.

    2013 December 28, @maggieantel, Twitter, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2024
    3 more examples

    I once had a 14-year-old tell me they were a poly-pansexual and while I wanted to be like, “Sure, Jan,” I was more astonished that there was language so readily available to welcome her into herself and her li’l kingdom of love.

    2019 June 16, Danez Smith, “Reimagining Ourselves in an Increasingly Queer World”, in The New York Times

    But then Sam deleted the pic and ~claimed~ his account was hacked (sure, Jan), saying, “Account got hacked and was photoshopped—calm down, everyone!”

    2021 September 12, Mehera Bonner, “Breaking! Britney Spears Is Engaged to Sam Asghari!”, in Cosmopolitan

    However, [Tom] Sandoval-aligned insiders now insist that there could be no breakup because there was never an official relationship. This seems like a pretty philosophical way of defining “breakup” and “relationship,” but sure, Jan.

    2023 May 18, Kathleen Walsh, “Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss Didn’t Break Up Because They Were Never Together, Apparently”, in Glamour

Origin

Referencing a scene from the American comedy film A Very Brady Sequel (1996), in which the character Jan Brady (Jennifer Elise Cox) is lying about having a boyfriend named George Glass at school, to which her sister Marcia Brady (Christine Taylor) replies, “Sure, Jan.” The phrase was popularized in early 2015 on Tumblr and other websites, chiefly through image macros and GIFs featuring the original scene from the film.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sure, Jan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sure%2C%20Jan

MLA

“sure, Jan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sure%2C%20Jan. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sure, Jan,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sure%2C%20Jan.

Source: sure, Jan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.