Word.ws English Dictionary

for the plot

for the plot phrase: everything happens for a reason.

Phrase (1)

for the plot

  1. (Internet, idiomatic) Everything happens for a reason.

Prepositional phrase

for the plot

  1. (Internet, idiomatic) Suggests doing something adventurous or risky just for the sake of it.
    1. (Internet, idiomatic) Used to dare someone to do something; take a risk; take a chance.

Phrase (2)

for the plot

  1. (humorous, slang) Used to suggest that someone is viewing or reading a piece of media (generally fiction) for reasons other than the storyline, usually because of its visual or sexual appeal.

Phrase (3)

for the plot

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see for, the, plot.

Origin of for the plot

All senses originate from the phrase sense. Coined as an inspirational phrase by actress and media personality Serena Kerrigan in a video posted to the social media video-sharing service TikTok on 23 July 2021, in which she alluded to every person being the main character of their own storyline: “If something works out, great, and if it doesn't, it's for the plot”. By this, she meant that negative events and obstacles are inevitable in one's life in order to advance “the plot” onto the next plot point (presumably a more positive one) in their life.

Originates from a sarcastic Internet meme from c.2011 in which users assert they watch something “for the plot”; often a video or image macro of a risqué or otherwise questionable scene from a work of fiction (originally especially of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic) accompanied with the text “I watch it for the plot” or “I watch [name of the work of fiction] for the plot”.

Words formed from for the plot

Questions about for the plot

What does for the plot mean?
For the plot means everything happens for a reason.
What part of speech is for the plot?
For the plot can be a phrase or a prepositional phrase.

Words near for the plot in the dictionary

  1. for the mean time
  2. for the meantime
  3. for the moment
  4. for the most part
  5. for the nonce
  6. for the plot
  7. for the present
  8. for the record
  9. for the rest
  10. for the sake of
  11. for the taking

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for the plot (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-for the plot.wav.

Cite this entry: “for the plot.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/for_the_plot. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.