The Person the Invented Talk and Text Passed Away Funny Memes
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
We live in an era defined by memes. Truthful, meme-ifying images and videos is a practice equally old every bit humanity itself, but the advent of the cyberspace has made that process much... danker. Whether repurposed from YouTube videos, film screengrabs, or viral catchphrases, these golden nuggets shape how we swallow, criticize, and communicate through cultural touchstones.
Just which ones have achieved lasting greatness? To answer that, we looked for memes with universality and malleability; a dank meme exists in many permutations, and can cross cultural and linguistic barriers. We confined ourselves to the cyberspace, and then but symbols and phrases that crossed from traditional media to the web qualify. (Sorry, Kilroy.) We also considered the ubiquity and persistence of a meme in determining its position on this list, which means more recent memes tend to air current up lower in the ranking, just may rise or fall in future update. As yous'll soon see, though, this ranking is perfect and indisputable.
Also READ: The Best Memes of 2021
100. American Chopper argument
(Not so) long ago, at that place existed a Discovery Channel program titled American Chopper, nearly the Teutul family, a tough bunch of guys who built custom motorcycles. Today, this heated scene from said show, in which Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. argue with words and then chairs, is dorsum from the dead equally a template for staging new arguments. Regardless of the stakes, the intensity always remains the same, which is very, very good.
99. Trollface
What single epitome better defines the early experience of the modern internet than the Trollface?
98. Go on Calm and Carry On
This OG meme goes all the way back to 1939, when Earth War Two broke out and the British had to get their propaganda automobile in gear. Did the State of war Ministry know it was creating a bona fide proto-meme? No, evidently, simply when originals of these posters were unearthed in 2000, they quickly spread effectually the internet thanks to their unproblematic design (already looks like a macro!) and the irony of the ask. Yes, when the Germans are bombing London back to Rex Arthur's courtroom, just become virtually your concern! Everything is normal, folks! Similar all not bad memes, this one has reached an annoying super-saturation point, but its influence must be acknowledged.
97. Dat Boi
Though the meme-stream media was charged with killing Dat Boi, the polarizing green frog that briefly invaded Tumblr and Twitter via unicycle, that doesn't mean you have to completely forget almost the unexplainable joys he and his brothers gave the world.
96. Large Adult Son/Accented Unit
Right earlier the end of 2017, British hotelier David Morgan-Hewitt inspired what some phone call the successor to the reckless "large adult son" phenomenon, which itself had establish a second wind thanks to the exploits of Donald Trump's progeny. "Where the big son is unchecked free energy, an absolute unit is the motion-picture show of poise," wrote MEL Magazine'southward Miles Klee, "proof that the seemingly uncontainable assailment of mammoth males tin push itself up; that men may interruption with patrilineal pressure, becoming something other than bumbling junior amateur. Unlike big adult sons, the unit of measurement isn't bound by the inconvenience of gender. Properly speaking, the absolute unit of measurement needn't be masculine, or fifty-fifty human—just accented." Behold, marvel abroad.
95. The Dear Badger
It sounds a bit quaint now, simply many (OK, maybe 10?) years agone, absurdist voiceovers could rule the internet. The Dearest Badger video is a particularly well-crafted case of this miracle, with memorable catchphrases—"the dearest badger doesn't give a shit," "honey badger takes what it wants"—becoming so popular that fans coined information technology as a nickname for and then-Heisman Trophy candidate Tyrann Mathieu, who at present plays in the NFL. See, Mom? Memes Exercise last!
94. Adult female yelling at a cat
On the left is Taylor Armstrong, a real housewife of Beverly Hills, and on your right is Smudge the cat. Simply put adjacent, as Twitter user @missingegirl offhandedly did in May 2019, the Taylor and Smudge screenshots form our new favorite representation of the troll's war.
93. "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch"
The early-to-mid-2000s were the cyberspace's awkward, adolescent phase, with a sense of humour and casual utilize of words like "bowwow" to match. The Juggernaut video—an overdub of an quondam 10-Men cartoon—presaged many of the facts we take for granted at present, like absurdist, non sequitur one-liners that exploited the rabid fandom of the comic-volume crowd, to the bespeak that "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" made its mode into X-Men: The Last Stand.
92. Sad Keanu
Keanu Reeves, never change. If you want to sit on a bench looking sad, sit on a bench looking sad. Exist who you lot are on the inside. Exist a meme if yous desire to be a meme. The internet loves yous merely the way you are.
91. "retire bitch"
In March 2013, player Danny DeVito tweeted "Antonin Scalia retire bitch." His reasons for doing so are all the same unclear. Just four years later, the concise demand has bloomed into a popular refrain, a call for controversial men, especially politicians, to cut their bullshit and pack information technology in.
Besides READ: The All-time Memes of the '00s
90. Sometime Boondocks Road
The yee haw agenda. Yee yee juice. Months as the state'southward number-ane song. A star-studded music video. Near-universal recognition in the uncomplicated school marketplace. Lil Nas X has completely taken over popular culture since his country-trap vocal became a TikTok sensation in late 2018 to early 2019, quickly jumping across platforms and age groups to achieve ubiquity. Just when you recall the steam is running out on the "Old Town Road" train, it just keeps going, proving that Lil Nas X—and this meme—will stay true to the message of the song past riding until they tin't no more, proven by massive striking ("Montero") after hit ("Manufacture Infant").
89. Scumbag Steve
Yous know Steve. He's the dude who appropriated hip-hop civilization in high school, even though he lived in a suburban McMansion. He brought xi uninvited creepy bros to your friend's political party. He smokes all the weed. He's Scumbag Steve, one of the most persistent, durable macro-memes the internet has produced; it won't surprise you to learn that the prototype showtime appeared on the encompass of an album past a group called Beantown Mafia, which is but every bit bad as information technology sounds.
88. Distracted Boyfriend
Shot past Antonio Guillem, the stock photo "Disloyal Man Walking With His Girlfriend and Looking Amazed at Another Seductive Girl" depicts... just that. The Meme Documentation Tumblr traces its nascency as an image-macro meme back to every bit early as January 2017, just it didn't explode until it striking Twitter during summer of the same yr, performance as a metaphor for pretty much anything involving competing desires, getting remixed with other memes, and folding in on itself in that inevitably meta manner. "I practice not really accept the fourth dimension to follow these things," the guy in the flick told SelectAll, "simply for what I have seen, I can say that it's crazy what people can imagine."
87. Michael Jackson eating popcorn
It'due south actually pretty surprising that Michael Jackson didn't produce MORE meme-able moments, considering he's the King of Pop and once dangled his baby from a balustrade. That his sole entry on this list is a reaction GIF people share when they see a public beef percolating online is a testament to his lawyers and PR reps.
86. Wife guys
Here at Thrillist, like everywhere else, nosotros honey a wife guy. A wife guy is a dude who posts very dramatic and/or very actress things online about his married woman, pretty much JUST to get some of that sweet, sweet attending from millions of strangers. Patient cypher, as we think fondly, was Curvy Wife Guy, as well known as Robbie Tripp, who hit send (and keeps hitting transport to this day) on a number of photos with lengthy captions most how he's such a dandy guy for marrying a woman who'south not skinny. More recently, the wife guy crown has gone to Cliff Wife Guy, whose video of his married woman falling into a ditch preceded by a clip of them both crying about how traumatic the experience was and how your life really can change in an instant warmed the hearts of all of united states who were but glad he was there, not to take hold of his married woman by the arm or break her fall, but to motion picture the whole thing and upload it to YouTube. In that location are then many wife guys out there; please, never stop posting nigh your wives.
85. Darude's "Sandstorm"
What vocal should I mind to? The answer is e'er Darude's "Sandstorm," the net'south anthem. If yous take to ask, you'll never know. Grab the lyrics here so yous can sing forth.
84. Is this a dove?
No. Though this anime even so—from the '90s series The Brave Fighter of Lord's day Fighbird—has been making the rounds on the cyberspace for years, it's been revived, similar a sassy Lazarus, for remixes and Distracted Boyfriend-esque object-labeling. Read more about its legitimately fascinating origins here.
83. "Are you not entertained?"
Well, aren't you? Russell Crowe's iconic line from Gladiatorrings truthful today. And right now, frankly, as y'all take 82 more than memes to dig through.
82. Grumpy Cat (RIP)
Grumpy Cat was a sweet cat that became a viral true cat that became a moving picture cat voiced past Aubrey Plaza. If digital archaeologists of the future uncover goose egg but that sole line of lawmaking, it'll be all they need to know almost why our society collapsed. We tin't stop looking at Grumpy Cat's pout.
81. "Trololo"
Originally, the vocal behind this video was the story of "a homo, Johnny, riding his equus caballus across the American prairie to his sweetheart Mary, who knits socks equally she waits his return." And so it lost its lyrics, and at present you tin transport it to anyone you'd like to close up and/or troll. RIP, Eduard Khil.
80. The Ice Bucket Challenge
In a vacuum, "The Ice Bucket Challenge" would laissez passer without a 2nd await. But since nature abhors a vacuum, it became i of the few examples of a charitable cause using a meme for the power of proficient. Who would've thought, first of all, that a viral challenge could atomic number 82 to actual inquiry discoveries. What'southward more, the challenge succeeded in sloughing off the name "Lou Gehrig's illness" from ALS. Credit where credit is due.
79. Rebecca Black'south "Friday"
Think "Friday"?! Gotta become down on Fri?! The vanity project of a poorly advised but decently well-funded teen created a viral furor on the cyberspace which led to the creation of remixes, gifs, and lasting infamy for Black. Without conferring any of the benefits of fame. Well... really. Nosotros'll run across about that.
78. #TheDress
Ah, THE DRESS. The groovy equalizer. You lot thought you were above THE DRESS. You thought you could ignore THE Apparel. You thought you could casually observe without repercussions that THE Clothes is obviously blue and black, only to notice yourself embroiled in a three-hour-long statement with your pregnant other, who thought the clothes white and gold, that precipitated the end of your relationship. THE DRESS exhibited no mercy in its overwhelming, brutal dankness.
77. "Chocolate Rain"
Before Rebecca Blackness, in that location was Tay Zonday, whose "Chocolate Rain" lyrics became the embodiment of late-Due west.-era resignation. The song earned itself a feature on South Park every bit the image of the net's functionality in a capitalist society. What does one do with fame no one's willing to pay for? Like the song says, "Some stay dry and others feel the pain."
76. Dabbing
Dabbing is newish, but information technology has some famous exponents, for meliorate and for worse. Cam Newton, for one, sunk his teeth into information technology. Migos popularized it. And Squidward turned it into the ultimate surprise. But and so there were Bill Gates and this sociopath. The jury'southward notwithstanding out, simply the simplicity of the original could place information technology in the pantheon of celebrations.
75. Vancouver anarchism kiss
Accept you ever loved someone similar these two loved each other in the midst of a 2011 riot, Canada's largest brandish of violence since Vice Admiral Cantwell fabricated a rude remark about Queen Victoria'south corset? No, you haven't. To love similar this would hateful ignoring the realities of the real world and besides having a center. Photoshoppers agreed, highlighting the effect by placing them in historic situations nigh which they couldn't care less.
74. Ancient Aliens
The History Channel predictable the net's brazen race for eyeballs at all costs, cheers to a comedically liberal interpretation of the word "history." Eventually, things got so bad that this dude became an "expert" on celebrated events that, contrary to what you learned in school, were carried out by ALIENS. So, whenever y'all need an explanation for a hard question, utilize this macro and all will exist revealed.
73. Tom Cruise jumping on a burrow
For Tom Prowl's career, there is Before the Burrow-Jumping, when no 1 questioned the biggest movie star in Hollywood, and Later the Couch-Jumping, when his mere presence raises an eyebrow. The profession of dear for his then-married woman Katie Holmes raised the scrutiny over the Church building of Scientology and, well, the rest is history. Meanwhile, over xv years subsequently, the internet is still meme-ing this brazen brandish of love.
72. Nick Immature ??? ???
Swaggy P's career as a basketball player befuddles those who know him as a shoot-get-go, overconfident ball hog. And yet he possesses a strange charisma encapsulated in this meme, which serves every bit a macro AND a reaction to anything as befuddling every bit Immature himself—to make things fifty-fifty more meta, the meme has come up total circle.
71. Ceiling True cat
An OG cat meme that has taken on new macro-meaning in the age of abiding authorities surveillance. Ceiling Cat is watching y'all illegally download NSA documents yous acquired through your private contracting gig! Dang.
70. #FirstWorldProblems
Detest when your MacBook Pro restarts for no reason? Bored of all your video games? Sick of the ads on Hulu? Go cry near information technology, Jared Kushners of the world.
68. "Delete your business relationship"
Hillary Clinton concluded this meme when she tweeted it at Donald Trump during her 2016 presidential campaign. But its origins as a Myspace insult that migrated to Tumblr that migrated to all social media as the ultimate shut-down retort indicate information technology has a long, long, long shelf life. "Delete your account" somehow manages to exist both nicer and crueler than its wicked cousin, "Kill yourself."
67. Planking
Those of us who lived through the planking craze volition tell our grandkids tales about the glory days of 2010 and 2011, when anything seemed possible, whatsoever situation ripe for a expert ol' plank. Or at least we'll tell our mom's friends when she has them over for dinner, and we determine to come upwards from the basement to have some wine. This meme stands as the quintessential example of spontaneous brilliance afterward ruined by others who tried likewise hard to replicate it. Remember "owling" and "Tebowing"? Yes, those sucked so hard.
Too READ: The Best Memes of 2020
66. "Don't tase me, bro!"
It says a lot about John Kerry'southward 2004 presidential campaign that this is the most memorable Kerry moment, and it happened in 2007. Overzealous constabulary officers attempted to remove a man who interrupted Senator Kerry'due south speech at the Academy of Florida; knowing what would happen adjacent, the protester offered ane final, futile plea: Don't tase me, bro! The line has get a response to whatever unpleasant feel, and its shut relative, "Don't tease me, bro," has become an antidote for anxious apprehension the world over.
65. "Netflix and chill"
Hereafter generations, have note: This is right up there with "Playing at St. George." It just means "fucking."
64. "More than cowbell!"
Before he was a mainstream picture star, Will Ferrell was the off-kilter courage ofSaturday Nighttime Live, with an eye for the hilariously mundane. The 2000 sketch that generated this now-famous line focuses on the fictional percussionist of the Bluish Oyster Cult who rocked the cowbell during recording sessions for their hitting song, "Don't Fear the Reaper." In the years following this sketch, as two strange wars raged and cultural hegemony hit an all-fourth dimension loftier, "More cowbell!" became a rallying cry for something—anything—different.
63. James Van Der Beek crying
For those who think memes don't matter: Consider James Van Der Beek, who parlayed his horrendous weep-face in the teen show Dawson'due south Creek into a universally recognized expression of depression-stakes bereavement, and a 2d, cocky-parodying act. Well done, Van Der Beek. Well done.
62. "Fuck it, we'll do it live!"
Bill, we're going to remember you lot for a number of reasons. None of them skilful, but some more meme-able than others.
61. Auto-Melody the ____
Remember Antoine Dodson? This is him like yous've never heard him. Way before Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was doing it, other people (with The Gregory Brothers leading the charge) were Machine-Tuning the fuck out of the news and making gloriously awful masterpieces.
lx. "Hey girl"/Sensitive Gosling
It really doesn't affair what Infant Goose does, shit will non stick to him. The human played Robert Durst, for God'southward sake! "Hey Girl" cemented Gosling'south legacy as a dream grab for women, who was simultaneously (and somewhat confusingly) sensitive to the modern woman's needs, yet also gear up to... be a hubby? The Gossiping Gosling moment only added to the actor's meme fable status.
59. "Haters gonna say it'south fake"
Thanks to this child's talent show functioning, this other child'southward incredible Halloween costume, bottle flipping reached new heights in 2016. The only thing improve than watching everybody'due south daring attempts to pull off plastic acrobatics were the heavily edited fakes that emerged as role of the "haters gonna say it'due south fake" meme, one that exists well exterior bottle flipping.
58. Icing
It'southward sad this is dead. For a while—including before this trend hopped from existent-life frat stars to the internet—ane of the corking joys in life was watching a bitchin' bro pinnacle off a Smirnoff Ice in hostage, then become upward and plaster a super-absurd look on his face—you know, the kind of smirk that said, "Fuck, human being, I'm tragically uncool, aren't I?" Damn. RIP.
57. Arthur fist
Arthur, the PBS educational TV series based on the Arthur the Aardvark books that just ended its 25-year run, has generated some of the best memes. In particular: One Twitter user's insightful take on an Arthur freeze frame led to 2016's greatest representation of inner frustration. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
56. "Imma let you end"
When Kanye Westward crashed Taylor Swift'due south spoken communication at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he probably knew he was doing something that would never be forgotten. But surely he didn't realize the moment would later plow into one of the most enduring memes of all time. It functions about like the uncomplicated setup of a knock-knock joke. You know what's coming next. And information technology ain't good.
55. Casual-Pepper-Spray-Everything Cop
The Occupy Wall Street movement spawned dozens of social media campaigns, images, political activity, and protests. Summing up the disruptive melange was an overzealous, dickish campus cop at UC Davis who decided it would exist a good idea to stroll upward and downwardly a grouping of peacefully protesting students and pepper spray them directly in the confront. Almost immediately, the cop institute himself ruining the residual of history.
54. Recut movie trailers
Only a few months after the launch of YouTube, commercial editor Robert Ryang inadvertently kicked off a movement by recutting Stanley Kubrick'due south The Shining into a lighthearted family comedy. Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" clearly worked its beaming, inspirational magic; the viral success of The Shining trailer spawned endless recuts, with a few—see:Brokeback to the Hereafter—catapulting the exercise to legendary condition.
53. Slender Human being
The Slender Man—sometimes spelled as one word and occasionally referred to as "Slender"—is a towering, faceless humanoid who dresses in a adjust and stalks alone children. Entirely fictional, he was created in 2009, when a user of the cyberspace forum Something Awful submitted a doctored photo for a paranormal image contest. The character chop-chop exploded in popularity and became a fixture of horror sites (namely Creepypasta), inspiring countless videos, photos, and pieces of fan fiction. He is the horror meme.
52. "Shit X people say"/Starter packs
Coincidental stereotyping has fueled the cyberspace for a long, long fourth dimension. Before we had the starter packs you encounter today on Instagram and Facebook, nosotros had the slightly related YouTube videos that poked fun at what sure types of people used to say.
51. "You have died of dysentery"
Finding out y'all or one of your beloved Oregon Trail railroad vehicle-mates perished via unrelenting diarrhea was the grade-school equivalent of beingness audited by the IRS. Still, it's amend to die of dysentery alone than kill your whole family fording a river. Right? OK, maybe not.
50. The Nigh Interesting Human being
Equally much as we love this guy, and his incredible feats, we hate to interruption this to him: He's basically the mall version of Chuck Norris Facts (more on that below). We all the same love y'all, and you were undeniably huge, my human. Just not quite the real deal.
49. Smash Mouth's "All Star"
This turn-of-the-millennium hit found second life in the irony-soaked hands of a new generation, who find that relentlessly mocking the song is much more than pleasing than listening to it. Peak "All Star" is owned by the lovable, neck-disguised Jon Sudano, who poignantly squeezes Smash Rima oris lyrics into other popular songs. Nail Mouth, who performed at a COVID superspreader outcome in Sturgis, Due north Dakota, had this to say nearly the meme: "Information technology's funny because a big percentage of our fans don't even know what a meme is—heck, we didn't really know either at first." Yeah. Not the sharpest tools in the shed.
Besides READ: The 'Shrek ii' Soundtrack Is Ameliorate Than the 'Shrek' Soundtrack
48. "That's what she said"
The phrase may engagement as far back equally Sat Night Live'due south "Wayne'due south Earth," but information technology's still riotously funny to 13-twelvemonth-olds the world over (and Michael Scott from The Function). Anything can become sexual, and these four words are the proof.
47. #Winning
It wasn't that long ago that formerTwo and a One-half Menstar Charlie Sheen took the discussion "winning" out of the sports realm and applied it to life in full general. Unsurprisingly, his antics chop-chop spread to bros the earth over and Donald Trump.
46. Star Wars kid
Parodied by such comedy stalwarts as Stephen Colbert and Arrested Development, this 2002 video of a kid wielding a ball fetcher like a lightsaber exploded onto the pre-YouTube internet, repurposed by whatever and every internet user with video-editing skillz. The bloodshot twist is that viral fame took its cost; later suffering emotional damage, Star Wars kid slapped the cyberbullies who leaked the video with harassment lawsuits.
45. Obama's "Hope" poster
Shepard Fairey'south reproduction of an Obama portrait quickly became one of the most iconic images of the 2008 presidential ballot. It wasn't long before several parodies, imitating the manner and minimalist message, spawned.
44. Dick Butt
This ane doesn't require that much unpacking. Dick Barrel is a drawing of a penis with a mouth, nose, and eyes who too happens to have another penis emerging from its rear end. (This second penis does non accept facial features.) It's a dick with a butt. Hence, Dick Butt. Information technology came from a webcomic by creative person Thou.C. Green and was popular on 4chan, YouTube, Reddit, and other places that you lot might assume would find Dick Butt hilarious. Either you think Dick Butt is funny or you're probably non reading this explanation anymore.
43. Shirtless Putin
Vladimir Putin has been the subject area of endless memes over his seemingly eternal reign heading the Russian oligarchy. While "Shirtless Putin" memes—featuring him riding eagles, shootin' guns, and engaging in other real-life and photoshopped badassery—have been Westernized riffs on his over-the-superlative and well-staged acts of masculinity, the people of Russia have used an image of Putin as a gay clown to protestation the regime'due south harsh stance on LGBTQ rights. This meme (and all memes of Putin, really) were promptly banned past the Kremlin—meaning they clearly got under his skin, proving not all memes have to be vessels for Dick Butt jokes.
42. Philosoraptor
Animals make fantabulous cyberspace fodder, and "Philosoraptor," a pop image meme where a quizzical dinosaur thinks deeply cool thoughts, is the perfect instance of what even an extinct fauna can accomplish. Where did this Jurassic meme hatch from? While y'all'd recall this particular joke was cooked upwards on a web forum, Philosoraptor actually debuted as a T-shirt sold on the website Lone Planet past a designer named Sam Smith. Yep, that'southward right: Novelty wearable can withal exist funny.
41. "Khaaaaaaaaaan!!!!"
WIlliam Shatner's entire being has morphed into a meme, from the song modulation to appearing on Shit My Dad Says, and y'all tin can't argue with the results. He's connected to make bank as a octogenarian actor, with this angryStar Expedition Two: The Wrath of Khan scream echoing through the annals of history.
twoscore. Hitler reacts
Not long afterward the release of Oliver Hirschbiegel's 2004 film,Downfall—about Adolf Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker—YouTubers turned the climax into a subtitled burst of absurdist one-act. In the real version, actor Bruno Ganz fumes with German fury over a failed assault. Just in many of the viral parodies that followed, he kvetches about niggling pop-culture matters, everything from tardily-night show politics to Taylor Swift. "The bespeak of the pic was to boot these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality," Hirschbiegel told Vulture in 2010, noting that his favorites were the Michael Jackson and Billy Elliot ones. "It's only fair if now it'south taken as office of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like."
39. Double rainbow
"Oh my God, it'southward so bright and vivid. Oh! Oh! OHHHH!" That'south how Paul "Deport" Vasquez described the double rainbow he spotted and recorded well-nigh Yosemite in 2010. A beautiful experience to behold, one complemented nicely by Bear, whose commentary fabricated him sound like he was scared, happy, and on the verge of an orgasm. The video was a meme creator'south dream, immediately spawning songs and catchphrases, and changing the world forever.
38. Numa Numa
It'south fun to watch other people have fun. That'due south the driving philosophy behind many of the memes, particularly the ones that popped upwards online in the early on '00s similar "Numa Numa," which emerged from a video of New Jersey resident Gary Brolsma dancing like a mad man to "Dragostea Din Tei" by Moldovan popular trio O-Zone (i.e., the vocal sampled on T.I. and Rihanna's "Live Your Life"). Brolsma's joyful lip sync inspired countless tributes, parodies, and sequels, but nothing beats the original for pure, unhinged joy.
37. "Goodbye, Felicia"
It'south hard to think that when Ice Cube was shooting Friday, his archetype 1995 stoner comedy, he had any idea that a throwaway line like "Bye, Felicia" would go along to become a popular dismissive catchphrase—much less the source for countless GIFs, Twitter put-downs, and even the title of a VH1 show. But that's how the internet works. Once people latch onto a slice of civilisation, it takes on a life of its ain. This particular phrase went from the movies to the internet and then back to the big screen: Friday director F. Gary Grayness incorporated the line into his N.Due west.A. biopicStraight Outta Compton, where Cube's actual son O'Shea Jackson Jr. delivered the line while playing his father. Whoa.
36. Success Child
Remember how fun it was to watch Kip Dynamite score a huge win? This meme was like that, simply on steroids. The cuteness mixed with the often idiotic quips made this macro i of the most-used of its kind. And for adept cause—whenever you lot needed a dose of optimism, Success Kid was there to remind you about how skilful (or impaired) life could exist.
35. Duck face
Whether yous saw information technology starting time on Myspace, inZoolander, or on the encompass of Little Feat's Downwardly on the Farm, you lot know damn well what this pose is. Heck, you lot might've even duck-faced a few times yourself. Never forget.
34. Ate my balls
While this meme has faded into obscurity, it deserves a slot on this list for existence one of the first memes to thrive on the internet. The archived (and delightfully '90s) website started by Academy of Illinois student Nehal Patel equally a simple joke, featured Mr T. making diverse comments, via crudely fatigued speech bubbling, about eating his balls, your balls… pretty much everyone'due south assurance by the terminate. Information technology was an early sit-in in remixing memes, every bit evidenced past such varieties every bit Chewbacca Ate My Balls and the still-relevant Bill Gates Bought My Balls. Information technology just goes to testify you, the internet has ever had an affinity for well-placed genital sense of humor. Hopefully, information technology always will.
33. Squinting Fry
Who would've thought that a random screengrab from Futurama's "The Lesser of Two Evils" would become so meme-orable (ahem)? Probably not Fry, but here he is anyhow, however being used as a macro stand-in for suspicious moments and defoliation.
32. "Gangnam Fashion"
Earwormy passages? Easy dance moves? Absurd imagery? Carefully crafted satire of something loosely analogous to South Korea's ane%? All of the above? We've already tried, and failed, to effigy out exactly why Psy's "Gangnam Manner" is and then pop and immortal. Only having surpassed 4 billion views, Cho Soo-hyun's cheesy equus caballus trot-filled music video has proven it will live on in internet history books for the residue of time. Just take information technology.
31. ??? --> Profit!
South Park has given the world its off-white share of iconic moments, merely nil sums upwards the cyberspace era of late capitalism better than this precious stone, taken from an episode in which underpants gnomes steal underwear in order to turn a profit. How exercise they make a profit? Through a simple three-phase plan, the 2nd stage of which is simply "?". In fourth dimension, some form of the punchline "Turn a profit" became a golden response to any instance of poor planning or a impaired thought destined for failure.
30. "Thanks, Obama"
No president inspired more online invective and praise than Barack Obama, largely because he was America's first true president of the internet age. "Thanks, Obama" took off equally sarcastic right-fly retort to the perceived problems with Obama'due south health-care bill, merely it presently became an even more than sarcastic manner to blame the president for anything that went wrong in life—no matter how small. A meme for all political leanings, "Thanks, Obama" has defied constitutionally mandated term limits and continues to govern the meme-verse.
29. Ermahgerd
Queen of the Macros, the Ermahgerd meme emerged from an immediate collective understanding that "ermahgerd gersbermps" is exactly how the subject area of this macro would pronounce, "Oh my God, Goosebumps." This meme really influenced the fashion people speak, turning "ermahgerd" into a stock nerdy response to any object of enthusiasm. Say it out loud and try non to laugh. We tin't do this meme more than justice than Vanity Off-white has already washed in its profile of the woman in the photograph, and so read that.
28. "It's a trap!"
When Admiral Ackbar casually dropped this line in Star Wars: Episode Half dozen–Return of the Jedi, the galaxy quaked. Not considering of the ambush. But considering fans the universe over were stoked for another everlasting catchphrase, one they'd be able to apply years later on, every bit a reaction to pretty much anything remotely sketchy, on one of those crazy, crazy dot com things. (North.B.: Not a tarp.)
27. Curl Safe
In 2016, while playing the grapheme R.S. (aka Whorl Safe) in the BBC Three's #HoodDocumentary serial, thespian Kayode Ewumi made a coded oral sex quip. The screengrab of that moment is now, and forever, your all-time-worst source of advice.
26. It's Peanut Butter Jelly Fourth dimension!!!
What time is it? It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Earlier this was a goofy Family Guy gag, this delightfully silly meme started on forums as a piece of Wink animation where a chipper assistant dances effectually as "Peanut Butter Jelly Time," a track from the Buckwheat Boyz, blares in the groundwork. Don't question information technology. Submit to the banana.
25. Derp
It might surprise yous where "derp" came from. It shouldn't. Matt Stone offset yelled the word later he was caught licking a female parent'south vibrating dildo in BASEketball. DERP! The term, which has come up to stand for palpable moments of failure and stupidity, has since found its way into a number of South Park episodes (remember Mr. Derp?) and, more importantly, mainstream internet vernacular. Thank you lot, Matt, Trey, and Mr. Zucker.
24. Harambe
On May 28, 2016, a toddler climbed into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. An employee who feared for the child's life shot and killed the gorilla. The months that followed resurrected Harambe in ways no one could have predicted. In a different era, the incident would have been nothing more than a story in the local newspaper. Simply we live in the Meme Age, and Harambe became a rallying symbol for a piece of internet entrenched in irony. Harambe got his own Change.org petition. Twitter users placed him alongside the other celebrities so publicly and crudely mourned. Then the nonsensical "Dicks out for Harambe" rallying weep took hold. Then 11,000 people supposedly voted for Harambe in the US presidential election (or was it 15,000? Or was it fake news?!). A Harambe Cheeto sold for $99,900 on eBay. What does it mean? It's only a mirror.
23. Kermit
Whether he'south sipping tea or talking to an evil doppelgänger, this Muppet has earned a decidedly different identity online. Warm and fuzzy? Nah. Friendly and caring? Not quite. When you see him from backside the keyboard, no longer is heSesame Street's most famous protagonist. He's a devil for your shoulder, the male monarch of minding his own business—the kind who has the same longevity and malleability as a SpongeBob. Long may he reign.
22. Me IRL/It Me
The internet dishes out a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet of ridiculous humans to mock, so self-deprecation (with some implicit mocking) tin be a welcome respite. The phrase "me irl"—"in real life," if you alive in a pineapple under the body of water and have no idea what that means—got its start way back in 1997, but (every bit with near memes) blew up on Reddit much subsequently. The closely related "It Me" meme serves the same purpose and is also useful, although it did originate from a highly problematic text exchange.
21. "You're the man now, canis familiaris"
No one could take predicted that a mildly problematic line from Sean Connery's earnest dramaFinding Forrester would become the emblem for repetitive internet nonsense, merely hey, here we are! In 2001, Max Goldberg slapped Connery's line-reading with a tiled mosaic of the man's face up and cast information technology off into an infinite loop. Goldberg would open the site up to user-created "YTMND" memes, both seize with teeth-size and epic, mesmerizing and irritating as hell. No other platform could support such gifts equally the Main Control Plan fromTRON singing Katy Perry'south "Hot N Cold."
20. LOLcats
A parody of leet speak? The conversion of adorableness into syntax? Who knows why 4chan users started slapping photos of cute cats with grammar-violating, Z-filled captions, but the meme took off, prompting one genius forum-dweller to start I Can Haz Cheezeburger, a hub for all things feline.
19. Dramatic Prairie Dog (sometimes dba Dramatic Chipmunk)
Animals are hilarious and cute! That's ane of the bang-up truths that makes the net go 'round. Even amend when they're making delightfully anthropomorphic faces or behaving in ways that make you believe they're more human (or humans are more animal) than anyone assumed. This prairie dog—erroneously chosen a chipmunk by many—first appeared in all his dramatic glory on the early 2000s Japanese bear witnessHello Forenoon! So YouTube came along, and in 2007 our dramatic hero became a go-to cut whenever a existent-life One thousand. Night Shyamalan twist thickened the plot.
18. Smiley face up
What could endure longer, with more universality, than the uncomplicated smiley face? Of grade, it'south not then uncomplicated—now your everyday speech communication is peppered with emojis and emoticons of all kinds, but Harvey Ball'southward 1963 depiction of a yellow circle with two blackness eyes and an up grin set the phase for everything from your cry-express joy reactions to wink emoticons... hell, we wouldn't even have an eggplant emoji without the path the yellowish smiley face fix in motion. It is the ur-text of contemporary communication. Without information technology, we cease to exist. Or we type out entire text messages, at the very least.
17. Demotivational posters
The cheesy motivational staples of high-school biology classrooms and corporate interruption rooms cried out for parody, and pretty soon, there were more than enough parodies to go around. It's not totally clear who idea that stock photography and cliches would inspire people to live their all-time lives, just as ever, the power of memes pretty chop-chop rendered the originals obsolete.
xvi. Nyan Cat
It takes an army to generate a lasting meme. Fused together from a GIF, designed by a 25-year-old in Dallas, Texas, and a Japanese music video cover of "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya," Nyan Cat popped up on YouTube in 2011 and changed the manner internet kids saw cats with Pop-Tart bodies who fart rainbows forever. The simplicity of Nyan Cat's image made it piece of cake to repurpose with world flags, various cat faces, and unmentionable shit we'll leave you lot to imagine for yourself.
xv. Nigerian prince
You lot've heard some version of the scam before, which doesn't always involve Nigeria or a prince, but is often called a "419 scam" later its code in Nigerian law: You get an email in stilted English from a stranger telling a tale of death, political difficulties, inheritance, and your kind assistance, with a goal of making you cough up your bank account information. As a scam, it's pretty hands ignored; the modern e-mail version dates all the way back to the Castilian prisoner scam of the late 1700s, so it certainly has immovability. As a meme, it'due south infinitely malleable, providing a prepare comeback for anyone you perceive to be gullible ("Oh, you believe politicians have the public's interest at heart? I as well know a Nigerian prince yous should meet.") or a reference point for clever macros. This 1 shows no sign of slowing downward.
14. Crying Michael Hashemite kingdom of jordan
The rare instance of a meme that made its own news in real time, Crying Michael Hashemite kingdom of jordan originated from Jordan's vindictive, self-serving Hall of Fame speech. If you haven't watched the source material, please practice. Of the many gifts that speech gave the world (has a male parent ever told his kids "I wouldn't want to be you" in forepart of a bigger audience?!), a scarlet-eyed, babble meme is surely the greatest. You tin can put MJ's face on just well-nigh anything to lighten the mood, but get your meme feet wet with a Drake album, Mount Rushmore, James Harden'southward beard, or Donald Trump'south torso.
13. Chuck Norris Facts
Give thanks god for Conan O'Brien, who in 2004 finer re-catapulted Chuck Norris dorsum into the zeitgeist with his Walker, Texas Ranger lever. E'er since, the martial artist has become the subject of an near innumerable number of hilarious alternative facts exaggerating his strength, virility, and badassery. (Seriously, there's a database full of 'em.) Chuck'southward favorite? "They wanted to put Chuck Norris' face on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn't hard enough for his beard."
12. Bert Is Evil
While this brood of subversive fun at the expense of childhood icons seems to be a trademark of today'due south internet, Bert Is Evil is a product of the '90s, making it one of the net's first truthful memes. In 1997, designer and Ernie-apologist Dino Ignacio created the parody website of the aforementioned proper name, putting Sesame Street'southward Bert into incredibly evil situations. The meme was early on and influential, gaining massive mainstream media coverage after a picture from the site—featuring Bert with Osama Bin Laden—was mistakenly put on a poster at a rally in Afghanistan. Obviously, the American people were confused at the connexion here (ah, the internet was so much simpler back then!). Simply, with the proper caption, this might exist the moment where many Americans found out what memes are in the offset place. At the expense of Bert, of course.
eleven. Doge
One person'due south Shiba Inu is another person's meme. Case in point: When a Japanese kindergarten teacher put a picture of a practiced little doggo online, the internet came with Comic Sans captions, beautifully awful syntax, and a custom payment system. To know doge is to know a very special and everlasting fashion of life.
x. "U mad bro?"
Nothing infuriates an angry or jealous person more than than trivializing his rage or jealousy, which is exactly what the always appropriate response "U mad bro?" accomplishes. The simpler "You mad" first came to prominence when Cam'ron shut down Bill O'Reilly during a segment on whether rap was harmful to children (thank God those days are over... hopefully). Eventually, "u mad?" and "u mad bro?" became go-to quips on bodybuilding forums and during video gameplay whenever anyone got a lilliputian salty. At present, information technology can exist in virtually any format: on political macros, on group texts, in Vines (RIP), every bit its very own song, on top of other memes... you proper noun it, bro.
9. Keyboard Cat
Boo boo boo boo boo buhboooooo buh. Boo boo boo boo boo buhboooooo buh. The shirt. The eyes. The head raise. ICONIC. This video is, in a few ways, the Mozart of internet videos: playful, passionate, a crown jewel of history. Evolving from a piece of performance fine art to an exclamation indicate at the end of fail videos to a mainstream awareness, Fatso the tabby paved the way for dozens of future brute supawstars.
8. Cavalier/Sarcastic Willy Wonka
In 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Mill, when thespian Factor Wilder introduces Wonka's most secret machine, he strikes an incredible pose. In the moment, it's a pose of playful suspense, but when screengrabs of the scene began popping upwardly across cyberspace forums the world over, Wilder's pose came to betoken succulent, sarcastic condescension. Which really tin apply to anyone or anything posting/posted publicly online.
7. The Dancing Baby
Not only is this gyrating little outburst of uncanny valley—by our interpretation—the world'due south outset cyberspace meme, it'due south as well 1 of the disquisitional turning points of internet history, overall. In 1996, Michael Girard designed the baby equally a demo to prove movement could be effectively programmed on a computer. When information technology landed in the lap of a LucasArts designer, he turned it into what was finer the globe's first GIF. From there, it slid into a thousand e-mail inboxes (recall, this was still when snail mail wasn't called snail mail) and became the internet'south commencement true phenomenon, culminating in a recurring office aslope confused '90s lawyer Ally McBeal. The Dancing Baby launched a million GeoCities pages, and remains the pure representation of the internet's babe (hehe) stage.
6. OBEY
Andre the Behemothic is the quintessential case of an ever-evolving meme that crossed from the concrete realm to the common cold ones and zeroes of the internet. Andre the Giant was the gargantuan professional wrestling star whose size led to wild apocryphal claims, similar the story that he drank 156 (or was it 127?) beers in a single sitting, or that he was and so large as a child that he couldn't ride the bus, then Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett drove him to school. In 1989, street artist Shepard Fairey created a stencil of Andre the Giant with the added phrase "Has a Posse," and distributed them all over the East Coast, where they became popular in the skater subculture. Eventually, the stencil morphed into a stylized image of Andre the Giant with the word "OBEY" underneath, a kind of vaguely anti-disciplinarian message that could be replicated ad infinitum in stickers, street art, online, and on wear.
5. "All Your Base Are Belong to Us"
This former Flash video, spread primarily on forums like Something Atrocious at the turn of the Willennium, launched the modern meme format, the Paradigm Macro (paradigm with white cake letters over). The phrase itself is a directly quote from a shoddily translated Japanese Sega Genesis game, Zero Wing. Similar any meme worth its Salt Bae, "All Your Base" spawned endless remixes and appropriations, equally it became shorthand for nerd culture, and was fifty-fifty [cringe] covered in local news broadcasts. Never has someone existence horrible at their job been then benign to society.
4. "Deal With Information technology" sunglasses
Dang, someone disagreeing with yous on the internet? Demand someone to just fucking handle something for you lot? This years-sometime antiphon should exercise the trick. All you need to put them in their identify, my friend, is a pair of pixelated sunglasses and these three simple words: Deal. With. It. (Dog optional, but preferable.)
3. Rickrolling
Like Trololo, but English. Simply kidding. Rickroll's roots go all the way back to 4chan circa 2007, when users began posting bunko links that led to Rick Astley's solo single debut instead of duckrolls. A beautifully random trolling phenomenon was born, one that continues today, one that's never gonna give you up, never gonna let y'all downwards, never gonna run around and desert y'all, never gonna make you cry, never gonna say cheerio, never gonna tell a lie and injure you.
2. SpongeBob
Archaic Sponge. Stunned Patrick. Confused Mr. Krabs. If yous needed whatever more proof that SpongeBob SquarePants was astonishing, and not simply for kids, all the prove'south hilarious screengrabs-turned-viral reactions should do the trick. They're versatile, recognizable, and proving immortal.
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Source: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-memes-of-all-time