Sam Smith’s fisherthem meaning — The unusual term explained

By okaybliss — ON Feb 17, 2023

Sam Smith can’t seem to avoid controversy lately. In a week, they drew criticism from both sides of the Atlantic for their and Kim Petras’ performances of Unholy at the BRIT Awards and the Grammy. In the United States, conspiracy theorists and right-wing commentators accused Smith of promoting Satanism.

In the UK, Smith and Petras’ rendition of Unholy reportedly attracted more than 100 viewer complaints. Smith’s outfit for the BRITs – a balloon-like latex garb designed by Harri – stoked the controversy.

Then, Smith appeared on The One Show and coined the term fisherthem.

Smith’s fisherthem is a gender-neutral term for fisherman

When One Show host Ronan Keating asked Sam Smith whether they are a fan of fishing, Smith enthusiastically replied: “I do love fishing, yes! Yeah, I’d love to be a fisherthem.”

“What, like a fly fisherman?’ Keating asked. Smith corrected him, “I’d be an type of fisherthem. I think I would like to, one day, I’d just like to end my days fishing. Like sitting on a bank.”

“What fresh linguistic hell is this?” one netizen tweeted. Smith’s fisherthem seems to be a gender-neutral term for fisherman. Smith, who is nonbinary, uses the pronouns they/them.

Piers Morgan criticized Smith, tweeting, “Sam Smith needs to shut up.”