Funny Meme Guy Pointing to Mirror
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
We live in an era defined by memes. True, meme-ifying images and videos is a practice as former as humanity itself, simply the advent of the internet has made that process much... danker. Whether repurposed from YouTube videos, pic screengrabs, or viral catchphrases, these gilded nuggets shape how we consume, criticize, and communicate through cultural touchstones.
But 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 tin cantankerous cultural and linguistic barriers. We bars ourselves to the internet, so only symbols and phrases that crossed from traditional media to the spider web qualify. (Lamentable, Kilroy.) We too considered the ubiquity and persistence of a meme in determining its position on this list, which means more recent memes tend to current of air up lower in the ranking, merely may rise or fall in time to come update. As you'll presently run into, though, this ranking is perfect and indisputable.
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100. American Chopper argument
(Not so) long ago, there existed a Discovery Aqueduct program titled American Chopper, virtually the Teutul family, a tough bunch of guys who built custom motorcycles. Today, this heated scene from said testify, in which Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. argue with words and and then chairs, is back from the dead as 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 image better defines the early experience of the modern cyberspace than the Trollface?
98. Proceed Calm and Carry On
This OG meme goes all the way back to 1939, when World War II bankrupt out and the British had to get their propaganda motorcar in gear. Did the War Ministry building know it was creating a bona fide proto-meme? No, obviously, but when originals of these posters were unearthed in 2000, they rapidly spread around the internet thanks to their simple blueprint (already looks like a macro!) and the irony of the ask. Aye, when the Germans are bombing London back to King Arthur's courtroom, merely go nearly your business! Everything is normal, folks! Similar all neat memes, this i has reached an annoying super-saturation betoken, 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 virtually the unexplainable joys he and his brothers gave the world.
96. Large Adult Son/Absolute Unit
Right before the end of 2017, British hotelier David Morgan-Hewitt inspired what some call the successor to the reckless "large adult son" phenomenon, which itself had found a second current of air thank you to the exploits of Donald Trump'due south progeny. "Where the large son is unchecked energy, an absolute unit of measurement is the film of poise," wrote MEL Magazine's Miles Klee, "proof that the seemingly uncontainable aggression of mammoth males tin can button itself upwardly; that men may intermission with patrilineal pressure, condign something other than bumbling junior amateur. Different big adult sons, the unit of measurement isn't bound by the inconvenience of gender. Properly speaking, the accented unit of measurement needn't be masculine, or fifty-fifty human—but absolute." Behold, curiosity away.
95. The Honey Annoy
It sounds a fleck quaint now, just many (OK, maybe 10?) years agone, absurdist voiceovers could rule the net. The Honey Badger video is a particularly well-crafted example of this phenomenon, with memorable catchphrases—"the love badger doesn't give a shit," "honey badger takes what it wants"—condign so pop that fans coined information technology as a nickname for then-Heisman Trophy candidate Tyrann Mathieu, who at present plays in the NFL. Meet, Mom? Memes Do last!
94. Adult female yelling at a cat
On the left is Taylor Armstrong, a existent housewife of Beverly Hills, and on your right is Smudge the cat. Merely put adjacent, as Twitter user @missingegirl offhandedly did in May 2019, the Taylor and Smudge screenshots form our new favorite representation of the troll'south war.
93. "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch"
The early-to-mid-2000s were the internet's awkward, boyish stage, with a sense of humor and coincidental use of words like "bowwow" to match. The Juggernaut video—an overdub of an old 10-Men cartoon—presaged many of the facts nosotros take for granted now, similar absurdist, non sequitur 1-liners that exploited the rabid fandom of the comic-book oversupply, to the point that "I'chiliad the Juggernaut, bowwow!" made its fashion into X-Men: The Last Stand.
92. Sad Keanu
Keanu Reeves, never change. If you want to sit on a bench looking sorry, sit on a bench looking sad. Be who yous are on the inside. Be a meme if you want to be a meme. The net loves you merely the way you are.
91. "retire bowwow"
In March 2013, actor Danny DeVito tweeted "Antonin Scalia retire bitch." His reasons for doing so are still unclear. Only four years later, the concise demand has bloomed into a pop refrain, a phone call for controversial men, especially politicians, to cutting their bullshit and pack it in.
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90. One-time Town Road
The yee haw agenda. Yee yee juice. Months as the country's number-ane song. A star-studded music video. Near-universal recognition in the elementary schoolhouse market place. Lil Nas X has completely taken over pop civilization since his land-trap vocal became a TikTok awareness in tardily 2018 to early 2019, rapidly jumping across platforms and age groups to achieve ubiquity. Only when you lot think the steam is running out on the "Quondam Town Route" train, it only keeps going, proving that Lil Nas X—and this meme—will stay true to the message of the song past riding until they can't no more, proven by massive hit ("Montero") later hit ("Manufacture Babe").
89. Scumbag Steve
You know Steve. He's the dude who appropriated hip-hop culture in high school, even though he lived in a suburban McMansion. He brought eleven uninvited creepy bros to your friend'south party. He smokes all the weed. He's Scumbag Steve, one of the most persistent, durable macro-memes the cyberspace has produced; information technology won't surprise you to acquire that the image first appeared on the cover of an album past a grouping called Beantown Mafia, which is merely as bad as it 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 birth every bit an prototype-macro meme dorsum to as early on every bit Jan 2017, just it didn't explode until information technology hit Twitter during summer of the same twelvemonth, functioning as a metaphor for pretty much anything involving competing desires, getting remixed with other memes, and folding in on itself in that inevitably meta way. "I do not actually take the time to follow these things," the guy in the pic told SelectAll, "simply for what I take seen, I tin 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 balcony. 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, similar everywhere else, we beloved a wife guy. A married woman guy is a dude who posts very dramatic and/or very extra things online about his wife, pretty much JUST to get some of that sweet, sweet attention from millions of strangers. Patient zero, as we call back fondly, was Curvy Wife Guy, also known as Robbie Tripp, who hit send (and keeps hitting transport to this mean solar day) on a number of photos with lengthy captions virtually how he'due south such a peachy guy for marrying a woman who's not skinny. More than 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 nigh how traumatic the experience was and how your life really tin change in an instant warmed the hearts of all of usa who were only glad he was there, not to catch his wife by the arm or break her autumn, but to motion picture the whole affair and upload it to YouTube. There are and so many wife guys out at that place; please, never finish posting about your wives.
85. Darude's "Sandstorm"
What song should I listen to? The answer is always Darude'due south "Sandstorm," the internet'south anthem. If you have to ask, you'll never know. Grab the lyrics here so y'all can sing forth.
84. Is this a pigeon?
No. Though this anime still—from the '90s series The Brave Fighter of Dominicus Fighbird—has been making the rounds on the internet for years, information technology'due south been revived, like a sassy Lazarus, for remixes and Distracted Swain-esque object-labeling. Read more virtually its legitimately fascinating origins here.
83. "Are you not entertained?"
Well, aren't yous? Russell Crowe's iconic line from Gladiatorrings true today. And correct now, frankly, equally you have 82 more than memes to dig through.
82. Grumpy Cat (RIP)
Grumpy Cat was a sugariness true cat that became a viral cat that became a movie cat voiced by Aubrey Plaza. If digital archaeologists of the future uncover nothing but that sole line of code, it'll be all they need to know about why our society collapsed. We can't stop looking at Grumpy Cat's pout.
81. "Trololo"
Originally, the song backside this video was the story of "a man, Johnny, riding his horse across the American prairie to his sweetheart Mary, who knits socks as she waits his return." So information technology lost its lyrics, and now yous can send information technology to anyone you'd similar to shut upward and/or troll. RIP, Eduard Khil.
80. The Ice Bucket Challenge
In a vacuum, "The Ice Bucket Challenge" would pass without a second look. But since nature abhors a vacuum, information technology became i of the few examples of a charitable cause using a meme for the ability of expert. Who would've thought, get-go of all, that a viral challenge could pb to actual research discoveries. What'southward more, the challenge succeeded in sloughing off the proper name "Lou Gehrig'south affliction" from ALS. Credit where credit is due.
79. Rebecca Black's "Friday"
Think "Fri"?! Gotta get down on Fri?! The vanity project of a poorly advised but decently well-funded teen created a viral furor on the internet which led to the creation of remixes, gifs, and lasting infamy for Black. Without conferring whatsoever of the benefits of fame. Well... really. We'll run across about that.
78. #TheDress
Ah, THE DRESS. The swell equalizer. You lot idea you were above THE Clothes. You thought you could ignore THE DRESS. Yous thought you could casually observe without repercussions that THE DRESS is plainly blue and black, simply to find yourself embroiled in a three-60 minutes-long argument with your significant other, who thought the apparel white and golden, that precipitated the terminate of your relationship. THE DRESS exhibited no mercy in its overwhelming, barbarous dankness.
77. "Chocolate Rain"
Before Rebecca Black, in that location was Tay Zonday, whose "Chocolate Rain" lyrics became the embodiment of late-W.-era resignation. The song earned itself a feature on Southward Park as the image of the internet'south functionality in a capitalist club. What does one do with fame no one'due south willing to pay for? Like the vocal says, "Some stay dry out and others feel the pain."
76. Dabbing
Dabbing is newish, but information technology has some famous exponents, for amend and for worse. Cam Newton, for i, sunk his teeth into it. Migos popularized it. And Squidward turned it into the ultimate surprise. Merely then there were Bill Gates and this sociopath. The jury's still out, merely the simplicity of the original could place it in the pantheon of celebrations.
75. Vancouver anarchism kiss
Have you ever loved someone like these ii loved each other in the midst of a 2011 riot, Canada's largest brandish of violence since Vice Admiral Cantwell made a rude remark nearly Queen Victoria'due south corset? No, you oasis't. To love like this would mean ignoring the realities of the real world and likewise having a heart. Photoshoppers agreed, highlighting the effect past placing them in historic situations about which they couldn't intendance less.
74. Ancient Aliens
The History Channel anticipated the internet'due south brazen race for eyeballs at all costs, thank you to a comedically liberal interpretation of the word "history." Somewhen, things got so bad that this dude became an "practiced" on historic events that, contrary to what you lot learned in school, were carried out by ALIENS. And then, whenever you demand an explanation for a difficult question, employ this macro and all will exist revealed.
73. Tom Prowl jumping on a couch
For Tom Cruise's career, in that location is Before the Couch-Jumping, when no one questioned the biggest movie star in Hollywood, and After the Couch-Jumping, when his mere presence raises an countenance. The profession of beloved for his and so-wife Katie Holmes raised the scrutiny over the Church of Scientology and, well, the rest is history. Meanwhile, over 15 years after, the internet is still meme-ing this brazen display of beloved.
72. Nick Young ??? ???
Swaggy P'southward career every bit a basketball player befuddles those who know him as a shoot-first, overconfident ball squealer. And nonetheless he possesses a foreign charisma encapsulated in this meme, which serves as a macro AND a reaction to annihilation as befuddling as Young himself—to make things even more meta, the meme has come up full circle.
71. Ceiling True cat
An OG true cat meme that has taken on new macro-meaning in the age of constant government surveillance. Ceiling Cat is watching you illegally download NSA documents you acquired through your private contracting gig! Dang.
lxx. #FirstWorldProblems
Hate when your MacBook Pro restarts for no reason? Bored of all your video games? Ill of the ads on Hulu? Become cry about it, Jared Kushners of the earth.
68. "Delete your account"
Hillary Clinton ended 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-downwardly antiphon indicate it has a long, long, long shelf life. "Delete your business relationship" somehow manages to exist both nicer and crueler than its wicked cousin, "Kill yourself."
67. Planking
Those of united states who lived through the planking craze will tell our grandkids tales about the glory days of 2010 and 2011, when anything seemed possible, whatsoever situation ripe for a good ol' plank. Or at to the lowest degree nosotros'll tell our mom's friends when she has them over for dinner, and we decide to come up from the basement to have some vino. This meme stands as the quintessential example of spontaneous brilliance afterward ruined by others who tried too difficult to replicate it. Remember "owling" and "Tebowing"? Yeah, those sucked so hard.
Besides READ: The Best Memes of 2020
66. "Don't tase me, bro!"
It says a lot well-nigh John Kerry'south 2004 presidential campaign that this is the most memorable Kerry moment, and information technology happened in 2007. Overzealous law officers attempted to remove a man who interrupted Senator Kerry's speech at the University of Florida; knowing what would happen next, the protester offered one terminal, futile plea: Don't tase me, bro! The line has go a response to any unpleasant feel, and its close relative, "Don't tease me, bro," has become an antidote for anxious anticipation the world over.
65. "Netflix and chill"
Future generations, take note: This is correct upwardly there with "Playing at St. George." It only means "fucking."
64. "More cowbell!"
Earlier he was a mainstream motion picture star, Will Ferrell was the off-kilter backbone ofSaturday Nighttime Alive, with an centre for the hilariously mundane. The 2000 sketch that generated this at present-famous line focuses on the fictional percussionist of the Blueish Oyster Cult who rocked the cowbell during recording sessions for their hit song, "Don't Fear the Reaper." In the years following this sketch, as two foreign wars raged and cultural hegemony hit an all-time loftier, "More cowbell!" became a rallying cry for something—anything—unlike.
63. James Van Der Beek crying
For those who call back memes don't matter: Consider James Van Der Beek, who parlayed his horrendous cry-face in the teen show Dawson'due south Creek into a universally recognized expression of low-stakes bereavement, and a 2nd, self-parodying act. Well done, Van Der Beek. Well washed.
62. "Fuck information technology, we'll do it live!"
Bill, we're going to call up you for a number of reasons. None of them skillful, but some more meme-able than others.
61. Car-Tune the ____
Remember Antoine Dodson? This is him like you've never heard him. Style before Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was doing information technology, other people (with The Gregory Brothers leading the charge) were Auto-Tuning the fuck out of the news and making gloriously awful masterpieces.
lx. "Hey girl"/Sensitive Gosling
It really doesn't thing what Babe Goose does, shit will not stick to him. The man played Robert Durst, for God'southward sake! "Hey Girl" cemented Gosling'due south legacy as a dream catch for women, who was simultaneously (and somewhat confusingly) sensitive to the mod woman'due south needs, yet besides gear up to... exist a husband? The Gossiping Gosling moment only added to the actor's meme legend condition.
59. "Haters gonna say information technology's simulated"
Thanks to this kid'southward talent evidence functioning, this other child'south incredible Halloween costume, bottle flipping reached new heights in 2016. The simply thing better than watching everybody's daring attempts to pull off plastic acrobatics were the heavily edited fakes that emerged as part of the "haters gonna say it'due south fake" meme, 1 that exists well outside bottle flipping.
58. Icing
It's sad this is expressionless. For a while—including before this trend hopped from real-life frat stars to the net—one of the swell joys in life was watching a bitchin' bro top off a Smirnoff Water ice in earnest, so become up and plaster a super-absurd look on his face—you lot know, the kind of smirk that said, "Fuck, man, I'm tragically uncool, aren't I?" Damn. RIP.
57. Arthur fist
Arthur, the PBS educational TV serial based on the Arthur the Aardvark books that simply concluded its 25-year run, has generated some of the best memes. In particular: 1 Twitter user's insightful take on an Arthur freeze frame led to 2016's greatest representation of inner frustration. Information technology'south the gift that keeps on giving.
56. "Imma let yous finish"
When Kanye Due west crashed Taylor Swift's 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 after plow into i of the most enduring memes of all time. It functions almost like the uncomplicated setup of a knock-knock joke. You know what's coming next. And it ain't skilful.
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 confusing melange was an overzealous, dickish campus cop at UC Davis who decided it would be a expert idea to stroll up and down a group of peacefully protesting students and pepper spray them straight in the face. Almost immediately, the cop found himself ruining the residual of history.
54. Recut movie trailers
Just a few months after the launch of YouTube, commercial editor Robert Ryang inadvertently kicked off a motility by recutting Stanley Kubrick'south The Shining into a lighthearted family comedy. Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" conspicuously worked its beaming, inspirational magic; the viral success of The Shining trailer spawned countless recuts, with a few—meet:Brokeback to the Futurity—catapulting the practice to legendary status.
53. Slender Homo
The Slender Human being—sometimes spelled as ane word and occasionally referred to equally "Slender"—is a towering, faceless humanoid who dresses in a conform and stalks lonely children. Entirely fictional, he was created in 2009, when a user of the internet forum Something Awful submitted a doctored photograph for a paranormal paradigm competition. The character speedily exploded in popularity and became a fixture of horror sites (namely Creepypasta), inspiring endless videos, photos, and pieces of fan fiction. He is the horror meme.
52. "Shit X people say"/Starter packs
Casual stereotyping has fueled the net for a long, long fourth dimension. Before nosotros had the starter packs you see 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 you or one of your love Oregon Trail wagon-mates perished via unrelenting diarrhea was the course-schoolhouse equivalent of beingness audited by the IRS. Notwithstanding, it's ameliorate to die of dysentery alone than kill your whole family fording a river. Right? OK, maybe not.
50. The Most Interesting Homo
As much as we love this guy, and his incredible feats, nosotros hate to break this to him: He'southward basically the mall version of Chuck Norris Facts (more on that below). Nosotros still love you lot, and yous were undeniably huge, my man. Just not quite the existent bargain.
49. Smash Mouth'south "All Star"
This turn-of-the-millennium striking plant 2d life in the irony-soaked easily of a new generation, who find that relentlessly mocking the song is much more pleasing than listening to it. Peak "All Star" is owned by the lovable, neck-bearded Jon Sudano, who poignantly squeezes Nail Mouth lyrics into other popular songs. Smash Mouth, who performed at a COVID superspreader consequence in Sturgis, Northward Dakota, had this to say virtually the meme: "Information technology's funny because a large per centum of our fans don't even know what a meme is—heck, we didn't really know either at starting time." Yeah. Not the sharpest tools in the shed.
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48. "That'south what she said"
The phrase may date every bit far back as Saturday Nighttime Live'due south "Wayne's Earth," merely it's still riotously funny to 13-twelvemonth-olds the world over (and Michael Scott from The Office). Anything can become sexual, and these four words are the proof.
47. #Winning
It wasn't that long ago that former2 and a Half Menstar Charlie Sheen took the word "winning" out of the sports realm and applied it to life in full general. Unsurprisingly, his antics chop-chop spread to bros the world over and Donald Trump.
46. Star Wars kid
Parodied by such one-act stalwarts equally Stephen Colbert and Arrested Evolution, this 2002 video of a kid wielding a ball fetcher similar a lightsaber exploded onto the pre-YouTube internet, repurposed by whatever and every cyberspace user with video-editing skillz. The bittersweet twist is that viral fame took its price; after suffering emotional damage, Star Wars kid slapped the cyberbullies who leaked the video with harassment lawsuits.
45. Obama's "Promise" poster
Shepard Fairey'southward reproduction of an Obama portrait quickly became ane of the most iconic images of the 2008 presidential election. It wasn't long before several parodies, imitating the mode and minimalist message, spawned.
44. Dick Butt
This one doesn't require that much unpacking. Dick Butt is a cartoon of a penis with a oral cavity, nose, and eyes who also happens to have some other penis emerging from its rear end. (This second penis does not accept facial features.) Information technology'south a dick with a butt. Hence, Dick Butt. It came from a webcomic by creative person K.C. Greenish and was popular on 4chan, YouTube, Reddit, and other places that you might presume would find Dick Butt hilarious. Either you think Dick Barrel is funny or you're probably non reading this explanation anymore.
43. Shirtless Putin
Vladimir Putin has been the field of study of countless memes over his seemingly eternal reign heading the Russian oligarchy. While "Shirtless Putin" memes—featuring him riding eagles, shootin' guns, and engaging in other existent-life and photoshopped badassery—take been Westernized riffs on his over-the-top and well-staged acts of masculinity, the people of Russia take used an prototype of Putin every bit a gay clown to protest the regime's harsh stance on LGBTQ rights. This meme (and all memes of Putin, actually) were promptly banned by the Kremlin—meaning they clearly got under his skin, proving not all memes have to exist vessels for Dick Butt jokes.
42. Philosoraptor
Animals make excellent internet fodder, and "Philosoraptor," a popular prototype meme where a quizzical dinosaur thinks deeply absurd thoughts, is the perfect example of what even an extinct creature can accomplish. Where did this Jurassic meme hatch from? While you lot'd call up this particular joke was cooked upward on a web forum, Philosoraptor actually debuted as a T-shirt sold on the website Lonely Planet by a designer named Sam Smith. Yep, that'south correct: Novelty clothing tin can nevertheless be funny.
41. "Khaaaaaaaaaan!!!!"
WIlliam Shatner'due south unabridged existence has morphed into a meme, from the vocal modulation to appearing on Shit My Dad Says, and you lot can't contend with the results. He's continued to make banking company as a octogenarian actor, with this angryStar Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan scream echoing through the annals of history.
40. Hitler reacts
Not long after the release of Oliver Hirschbiegel's 2004 pic,Downfall—nigh Adolf Hitler'south last days in his Berlin bunker—YouTubers turned the climax into a subtitled flare-up of absurdist comedy. In the existent version, actor Bruno Ganz fumes with German fury over a failed assail. But in many of the viral parodies that followed, he kvetches about trivial pop-culture matters, everything from late-night bear witness politics to Taylor Swift. "The point of the motion-picture show was to boot these terrible people off the throne that fabricated them demons, making them existent 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 information technology's taken as part of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like."
39. Double rainbow
"Oh my God, it's and then bright and vivid. Oh! Oh! OHHHH!" That'south how Paul "Bear" Vasquez described the double rainbow he spotted and recorded near Yosemite in 2010. A beautiful experience to behold, one complemented nicely by Bear, whose commentary made him sound like he was scared, happy, and on the verge of an orgasm. The video was a meme creator'southward dream, immediately spawning songs and catchphrases, and changing the world forever.
38. Numa Numa
It's fun to watch other people have fun. That'south the driving philosophy backside many of the memes, especially the ones that popped up online in the early '00s similar "Numa Numa," which emerged from a video of New Jersey resident Gary Brolsma dancing like a mad man to "Dragostea Din Tei" past Moldovan pop trio O-Zone (i.eastward., the song sampled on T.I. and Rihanna's "Alive Your Life"). Brolsma'south joyful lip sync inspired countless tributes, parodies, and sequels, but zip beats the original for pure, unhinged joy.
37. "Bye, Felicia"
Information technology's hard to call up that when Ice Cube was shooting Friday, his classic 1995 stoner comedy, he had whatsoever idea that a throwaway line like "Adieu, Felicia" would become on to get a popular dismissive catchphrase—much less the source for countless GIFs, Twitter put-downs, and even the title of a VH1 prove. Only that'due south how the cyberspace works. Once people latch onto a slice of culture, information technology takes on a life of its ain. This particular phrase went from the movies to the cyberspace and then dorsum to the big screen: Fri director F. Gary Gray incorporated the line into his N.W.A. biopicDirectly Outta Compton, where Cube'south actual son O'Shea Jackson Jr. delivered the line while playing his father. Whoa.
36. Success Kid
Remember how fun it was to lookout Kip Dynamite score a huge win? This meme was like that, merely on steroids. The cuteness mixed with the often idiotic quips fabricated this macro one of the most-used of its kind. And for skillful cause—whenever you needed a dose of optimism, Success Kid was there to remind you lot about how good (or dumb) life could be.
35. Duck face
Whether yous saw it first on Myspace, inZoolander, or on the embrace of Little Feat's Downward on the Farm, you know damn well what this pose is. Heck, you 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 being i of the offset memes to thrive on the net. The archived (and delightfully '90s) website started by University of Illinois student Nehal Patel as a unproblematic joke, featured Mr T. making diverse comments, via crudely drawn speech bubbles, near eating his balls, your balls… pretty much anybody's balls by the end. Information technology was an early on demonstration in remixing memes, as evidenced by such varieties as Chewbacca Ate My Balls and the still-relevant Bill Gates Bought My Balls. It just goes to show you, the cyberspace has e'er had an affinity for well-placed genital humor. Hopefully, information technology always volition.
33. Squinting Fry
Who would've thought that a random screengrab from Futurama's "The Bottom of Two Evils" would become and then meme-orable (ahem)? Probably not Fry, but here he is anyhow, still existence used as a macro stand-in for suspicious moments and confusion.
32. "Gangnam Manner"
Earwormy passages? Like shooting fish in a barrel dance moves? Absurd imagery? Carefully crafted satire of something loosely analogous to South korea's 1%? All of the above? Nosotros've already tried, and failed, to figure out exactly why Psy'due south "Gangnam Manner" is so 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 rest of time. Just accept it.
31. ??? --> Profit!
South Park has given the world its off-white share of iconic moments, just cypher sums upwardly the internet era of late capitalism better than this precious stone, taken from an episode in which underpants gnomes steal underwear in society to plough a profit. How do they brand a profit? Through a simple three-stage plan, the second phase of which is simply "?". In fourth dimension, some form of the punchline "Profit" became a gold response to whatsoever example of poor planning or a dumb idea destined for failure.
30. "Thanks, Obama"
No president inspired more online invective and praise than Barack Obama, largely considering he was America's start truthful president of the cyberspace age. "Thanks, Obama" took off equally sarcastic correct-wing retort to the perceived bug with Obama'due south wellness-intendance bill, simply it soon became an even more sarcastic fashion to arraign the president for anything that went wrong in life—no thing how minor. 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 agreement that "ermahgerd gersbermps" is exactly how the subject of this macro would pronounce, "Oh my God, Goosebumps." This meme actually influenced the way people speak, turning "ermahgerd" into a stock nerdy response to any object of enthusiasm. Say it out loud and try non to express joy. Nosotros can't practice this meme more justice than Vanity Fair has already done in its profile of the woman in the photo, so read that.
28. "It'due south a trap!"
When Admiral Ackbar casually dropped this line in Star Wars: Episode VI–Render of the Jedi, the milky way quaked. Not because of the ambush. But because fans the universe over were stoked for another everlasting catchphrase, one they'd be able to use years subsequently, as a reaction to pretty much anything remotely sketchy, on one of those crazy, crazy dot com things. (Due north.B.: Non a tarp.)
27. Coil Condom
In 2016, while playing the graphic symbol R.Due south. (aka Roll Condom) in the BBC Three's #HoodDocumentary series, player Kayode Ewumi made a coded oral sex quip. The screengrab of that moment is now, and forever, your best-worst source of advice.
26. It'southward Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!!
What time is it? It'due south Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Before this was a goofy Family Guy gag, this delightfully silly meme started on forums equally a piece of Flash animation where a chipper banana dances effectually as "Peanut Butter Jelly Time," a rail from the Buckwheat Boyz, blares in the background. Don't question it. Submit to the banana.
25. Derp
It might surprise you where "derp" came from. Information technology shouldn't. Matt Stone first yelled the give-and-take subsequently he was caught licking a mother's vibrating dildo in BASEketball. DERP! The term, which has come to represent palpable moments of failure and stupidity, has since plant its way into a number of South Park episodes (retrieve Mr. Derp?) and, more importantly, mainstream internet vernacular. Thank you, 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 kid'southward life shot and killed the gorilla. The months that followed resurrected Harambe in ways no one could take predicted. In a unlike era, the incident would take been null more than a story in the local newspaper. But we live in the Meme Age, and Harambe became a rallying symbol for a slice of net entrenched in irony. Harambe got his own Change.org petition. Twitter users placed him aslope the other celebrities then publicly and crudely mourned. Then the nonsensical "Dicks out for Harambe" rallying cry took hold. Then 11,000 people supposedly voted for Harambe in the US presidential ballot (or was it fifteen,000? Or was it false news?!). A Harambe Cheeto sold for $99,900 on eBay. What does it mean? It's just a mirror.
23. Kermit
Whether he's sipping tea or talking to an evil doppelgänger, this Muppet has earned a decidedly different identity online. Warm and fuzzy? Nah. Friendly and caring? Non quite. When you lot see him from backside the keyboard, no longer is heSesame Street's most famous protagonist. He's a devil for your shoulder, the king of minding his own concern—the kind who has the same longevity and malleability as a SpongeBob. Long may he reign.
22. Me IRL/It Me
The net dishes out a veritable all-you-tin-consume buffet of ridiculous humans to mock, so cocky-deprecation (with some implicit mocking) can be a welcome respite. The phrase "me irl"—"in real life," if you alive in a pineapple under the sea and take no idea what that means—got its start way back in 1997, but (as with most memes) blew up on Reddit much later. The closely related "It Me" meme serves the aforementioned purpose and is also useful, although it did originate from a highly problematic text exchange.
21. "You're the man now, canis familiaris"
No i could have predicted that a mildly problematic line from Sean Connery'southward earnest dramaFinding Forrester would go the emblem for repetitive net nonsense, simply hey, here we are! In 2001, Max Goldberg slapped Connery'southward line-reading with a tiled mosaic of the human being'south confront and cast it off into an infinite loop. Goldberg would open the site upward to user-created "YTMND" memes, both bite-size and epic, mesmerizing and irritating as hell. No other platform could support such gifts as the Master Control Program fromTRON singing Katy Perry's "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 beautiful cats with grammar-violating, Z-filled captions, just the meme took off, prompting one genius forum-dweller to outset I Can Haz Cheezeburger, a hub for all things feline.
nineteen. Dramatic Prairie Dog (sometimes dba Dramatic Chipmunk)
Animals are hilarious and cute! That's one of the keen truths that makes the internet go 'round. Even better when they're making delightfully anthropomorphic faces or behaving in ways that make you lot believe they're more human (or humans are more than animal) than anyone causeless. This prairie dog—erroneously chosen a chipmunk by many—first appeared in all his dramatic celebrity on the early 2000s Japanese proveHello Morning time! Then YouTube came forth, and in 2007 our dramatic hero became a go-to cutting whenever a real-life One thousand. Dark Shyamalan twist thickened the plot.
xviii. Smiley face
What could endure longer, with more than universality, than the simple smiley face? Of course, it's not so uncomplicated—at present your everyday spoken communication is peppered with emojis and emoticons of all kinds, but Harvey Ball'south 1963 depiction of a yellow circumvolve with two blackness eyes and an upward grin set the stage for everything from your weep-express joy reactions to wink emoticons... hell, we wouldn't even accept an eggplant emoji without the path the yellowish smiley face gear up in motion. It is the ur-text of contemporary communication. Without it, we end to exist. Or nosotros type out entire text letters, at the very least.
17. Demotivational posters
The cheesy motivational staples of loftier-school biology classrooms and corporate intermission rooms cried out for parody, and pretty soon, at that place were more than than enough parodies to go around. It'southward not totally articulate who idea that stock photography and cliches would inspire people to live their best lives, but as always, the power of memes pretty quickly rendered the originals obsolete.
16. 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 upwardly on YouTube in 2011 and changed the way internet kids saw cats with Popular-Tart bodies who fart rainbows forever. The simplicity of Nyan Cat'southward image made it easy to repurpose with world flags, various cat faces, and unmentionable shit we'll leave y'all to imagine for yourself.
fifteen. Nigerian prince
You've heard some version of the scam before, which doesn't always involve Nigeria or a prince, but is often called a "419 scam" afterwards its code in Nigerian law: Y'all get an email in stilted English from a stranger telling a tale of expiry, political difficulties, inheritance, and your kind assistance, with a goal of making yous cough up your banking concern account data. As a scam, it'southward pretty easily ignored; the modern email version dates all the way back to the Spanish prisoner scam of the late 1700s, and then information technology certainly has durability. Equally a meme, it'due south infinitely malleable, providing a ready comeback for anyone you perceive to be gullible ("Oh, y'all believe politicians take the public's interest at heart? I as well know a Nigerian prince yous should meet.") or a reference betoken for clever macros. This i shows no sign of slowing downward.
14. Crying Michael Jordan
The rare example of a meme that made its ain news in existent time, Crying Michael Jordan originated from Jordan's vindictive, cocky-serving Hall of Fame speech. If you haven't watched the source material, please practice. Of the many gifts that speech gave the earth (has a male parent ever told his kids "I wouldn't desire to be you" in forepart of a bigger audience?!), a reddish-eyed, blubbering meme is surely the greatest. Y'all can put MJ's face on just about annihilation to lighten the mood, but get your meme anxiety wet with a Drake anthology, Mountain Rushmore, James Harden's beard, or Donald Trump'due south trunk.
13. Chuck Norris Facts
Give thanks god for Conan O'Brien, who in 2004 effectively re-catapulted Chuck Norris back into the zeitgeist with his Walker, Texas Ranger lever. E'er since, the martial artist has become the subject of an almost innumerable number of hilarious culling facts exaggerating his strength, virility, and badassery. (Seriously, at that place's a database full of 'em.) Chuck's favorite? "They wanted to put Chuck Norris' confront on Mount Rushmore, just the granite wasn't hard enough for his beard."
12. Bert Is Evil
While this breed of subversive fun at the expense of childhood icons seems to be a trademark of today's internet, Bert Is Evil is a product of the '90s, making it ane of the net'due south first true memes. In 1997, designer and Ernie-apologist Dino Ignacio created the parody website of the same name, putting Sesame Street'southward Bert into incredibly evil situations. The meme was early and influential, gaining massive mainstream media coverage after a moving-picture show 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 connectedness here (ah, the cyberspace was and so much simpler back then!). Just, with the proper explanation, this might be the moment where many Americans institute out what memes are in the first place. At the expense of Bert, of class.
eleven. Doge
Ane person's Shiba Inu is some other person's meme. Example in bespeak: When a Japanese kindergarten teacher put a picture show of a good niggling doggo online, the cyberspace came with Comic Sans captions, beautifully awful syntax, and a custom payment system. To know doge is to know a very special and everlasting way of life.
x. "U mad bro?"
Zero infuriates an angry or jealous person more than trivializing his rage or jealousy, which is exactly what the always advisable response "U mad bro?" accomplishes. The simpler "You mad" showtime came to prominence when Cam'ron shut downwards Bill O'Reilly during a segment on whether rap was harmful to children (thank God those days are over... hopefully). Somewhen, "u mad?" and "u mad bro?" became go-to quips on bodybuilding forums and during video gameplay whenever anyone got a piffling salty. At present, it can exist in virtually whatever format: on political macros, on group texts, in Vines (RIP), as its very own song, on peak of other memes... y'all name 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 heighten. ICONIC. This video is, in a few ways, the Mozart of internet videos: playful, passionate, a crown gem of history. Evolving from a piece of performance art to an exclamation signal at the finish of fail videos to a mainstream sensation, Fatso the tabby paved the way for dozens of hereafter animal supawstars.
8. Condescending/Sarcastic Willy Wonka
In 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Manufacturing plant, when player Gene Wilder introduces Wonka'south about undercover auto, he strikes an incredible pose. In the moment, it's a pose of playful suspense, simply when screengrabs of the scene began popping up across internet forums the world over, Wilder's pose came to signal delicious, sarcastic condescension. Which really tin can apply to anyone or annihilation posting/posted publicly online.
seven. The Dancing Baby
Not but is this gyrating piddling burst of uncanny valley—by our estimation—the world's first internet meme, it's also one of the critical turning points of internet history, overall. In 1996, Michael Girard designed the infant as a demo to prove move could be effectively programmed on a figurer. When information technology landed in the lap of a LucasArts designer, he turned information technology into what was effectively the world's first GIF. From there, information technology slid into a g email inboxes (retrieve, this was still when snail post wasn't called snail mail) and became the internet'due south first true phenomenon, culminating in a recurring role aslope dislocated '90s lawyer Marry McBeal. The Dancing Infant launched a million GeoCities pages, and remains the pure representation of the internet's infant (hehe) phase.
6. OBEY
Andre the Giant is the quintessential example of an always-evolving meme that crossed from the physical realm to the cold ones and zeroes of the cyberspace. Andre the Giant was the gargantuan professional person wrestling star whose size led to wild apocryphal claims, like the story that he drank 156 (or was information technology 127?) beers in a single sitting, or that he was so large as a child that he couldn't ride the bus, so Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett drove him to school. In 1989, street artist Shepard Fairey created a stencil of Andre the Behemothic with the added phrase "Has a Posse," and distributed them all over the Eastward Coast, where they became popular in the skater subculture. Somewhen, the stencil morphed into a stylized image of Andre the Giant with the word "OBEY" underneath, a kind of vaguely anti-authoritarian message that could exist replicated ad infinitum in stickers, street art, online, and on clothing.
five. "All Your Base Are Vest to Us"
This former Flash video, spread primarily on forums similar Something Awful at the plough of the Willennium, launched the modern meme format, the Paradigm Macro (image with white block letters over). The phrase itself is a direct quote from a shoddily translated Japanese Sega Genesis game, Cypher Wing. Similar any meme worth its Salt Bae, "All Your Base of operations" spawned countless remixes and appropriations, as it became shorthand for nerd culture, and was fifty-fifty [cringe] covered in local news broadcasts. Never has someone being horrible at their job been and so benign to gild.
iv. "Deal With It" sunglasses
Dang, someone disagreeing with you on the internet? Need someone to just fucking handle something for you? This years-sometime retort should do the trick. All you need to put them in their place, my friend, is a pair of pixelated sunglasses and these 3 elementary words: Deal. With. Information technology. (Dog optional, merely preferable.)
3. Rickrolling
Like Trololo, but English. Simply kidding. Rickroll's roots go all the way dorsum to 4chan circa 2007, when users began posting bait-and-switch links that led to Rick Astley'south solo unmarried debut instead of duckrolls. A beautifully random trolling phenomenon was born, i that continues today, one that's never gonna requite you up, never gonna permit you down, never gonna run around and desert yous, never gonna make yous cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a prevarication and hurt y'all.
2. SpongeBob
Primitive Sponge. Stunned Patrick. Confused Mr. Krabs. If you needed any more proof that SpongeBob SquarePants was amazing, and not but for kids, all the show's hilarious screengrabs-turned-viral reactions should do the play a trick on. They're versatile, recognizable, and proving immortal.
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Source: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-memes-of-all-time
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