SINCE I’M TYPICALLY so late in catching on to trends, memes, and rages, I’ve determined my role will be to check in once they’re up and running, make sure everything’s going okay, and then add a comment or two for the benefit of others who, like me, are just getting with the program.

Case in point, the relatively recent return to popularity of the Keep Calm And Carry On slogan that first appeared in England during World War II. Four years into this thing, the very existence of the website KeepCalm-O-Matic.co.uk should be indication enough that it’s reached critical mass. This free site lets you generate a mockery of stiff-upper-lip, inspirational slogans, and in a matter of seconds have yours graphically designed into a send-up of the original poster.

As I’ve done with the three examples here (my apologies to Winston Churchill who, if not rolling over in his grave, must at least be chomping right through his Corona). The site also recounts the history of the campaign in brief:

“Keep Calm and Carry On was the third in a series of World War 2 posters drawn up by the UK Ministry of Information in order to boost the morale of the British people by passing on a message from King George VI. The posters were a stark white text on a red background, with the only image on the poster being the royal crown.

The first two posters, “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory” and “Freedom is in Peril” were widely printed and distributed. However, the third poster, which carried the simple message “Keep Calm and Carry On” although printed, was never distributed, as it was intended only if invasion was imminent.

At the end of the war, the posters were collected up and pulped. It is believed that only two original posters out of a print run of over a million survive to this day.”

Try it yourself. Here are a few I had left to get you started:

• KEEP CALM I’M TURNING CONAN ON
• KEEP CALM THIS WON’T HURT FOR LONG
• KEEP CALM OR I’LL SING MY LITTLE SONG