Origin

The Cynthia meme, or “Cynthia, don’t even start”, was created on February 26th, 2017 by popular Tumblr user the-real-ted-cruz. Known among their followers for various inside jokes such as “loaf”, the user responded to criticism on one of their posts with the following paragraph:

Cynthia, don’t even start with me. We all know that the cookies you “baked” for the PTA bake sale were actually store bought, and guess what? They tasted like trash. You’re always late to Yoga class on Tuesdays at 3:00-4:00 PM and you look like a flailing turtle when you go in Standing Tree position. You dress like a teen girl who just discovered Claire’s and your son is bad at soccer, so don’t even go there, Cynthia.

The copypasta took off quickly among their followers and within hours had been sent anonymously to dozens of users. Both the original post and the follow-up containing only the copypasta received over 250 notes before the end of the day. The hashtag “#Cynthia don’t even start” was designated as the official tracking tag for the meme in hopes of elevating it to trending on Tumblr.

Usage

So far, there are two main established uses for the meme:

1. Sending randomly to others with no context


2. Replying to those whose opinions you disagree with

Evolution

Because the meme is still brand new, almost no evolution has occurred. Several users have coupled it with existing memes such as Increasing Brain Activity, What She Says/What She Means, and Me, An Intellectual. This article will continue to be updated as more changes are observed.

Sources

Original post
Pure copypasta post
Me, An Intellectual variation
What She Says/What She Means variation
Increasing Brain Activity variation

Tyrone is a black imp from the hood. He came to the good white man’s neighborhood in search of a KFC, as his tried and true was shot up and is currently under investigation. He is extremely addicted to cocaine. He has a gun, but he does not know how to use said gun because he never went to school. Just like black people, he cannot read. His Timberlands were stolen. He does not have $169.99 at his disposal. He is always high on bud, so his tweets are not what we would deem trustworthy. He is entirely unaware of the comb in his fro. Don’t tell him, we’re trying to see how long it will stay there. He once shot up his local Walmart, but there were no injuries as he did (and does) not know how to wield a gun. That is how he got his restraining order. Please do not let Tyrone into Walmart. He attempted a KFC drive-by, but the delectable, savory chicken rinds pulled him in and he decided to cop a nice snack. Then he got arrested for rape, because he is black. In his earlier forms, he has two arms and two legs. As Tyrone breaks the law more and more, he grows more limbs; like a criminal Pinocchio. Black Lives Matter is his go-to social movement. He will eventually be caught and mauled brutally by a bald, white policeman who longs for the blood of the young black male. End

About

Trivago Guy is a nickname given to actor Ted Williams for his appearances in a series of commercials for the German internet services company Trivago, which specializes in tools for booking hotels and other lodging. Online, the commercials have spawned a series of parodies and image macros.

Origin

On May 11th, 2013, Trivago released a commercial in which actor Tim Williams explains how to user Trivago search to find hotels (shown below).

In April 2014, the @TrivagoGuy^[5] parody account was launched on Twitter, featuring creepy tweets written from the perspective of Tim Williams as if he were an alcoholic (shown below).

Spread

On August 25th, 2014, Instagram user @raptorsmemez^[4] posted a “Batman Slapping Robin”: image macro photoshopped with Williams’ face (shown below).

On September 12th, 2014, Funny Or Die released a parody of Trivago commercials titled “Trivago Guy” (shown below, left). On October 7th, the CBC Comedy YouTuber channel posted a Trivago parody commercial in which Williams is depicted as a run-away fugitive (shown below, right).

On February 5th, 2017, Twitter user @Baleinho^[1] posted a tweet comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler followed by “Mystery? Maybe. Hotel? Trivago” (shown below). Within two weeks, the tweet gained over 83,000 likes and 67,000 retweets. On February 11th, the @edgy4days3^[2] Instagram posted the tweet above a screenshot of a Trivago commercial, garnering more than 12,100 likes over the next week (shown below, right).

On February 17th, 2017, Redditor submitted a post asking if “Trivago memes have any long term potential in the current marketplace?” to /r/memeeconomy,^[3] where it gained over 20,900 votes (79% upvoted) and 300 comments within 24 hours.

Search Interest

External References

About

Expanding Brain is a meme in which a series of images compare the brain size of a person relative to a certain factor. Though the expanding brain is usually implied to showcase intellectual superiority over various objects, it is more often used in an ironic sense to imply the opposite, where objects of derision are implied to be of higher standard than objects that are usually highly regarded. For example, when used with Whomst, a person who uses “who” will be shown with the smallest brain, while a person who uses the most ridiculous variation, i.e. “whomst’d’ve”, will be shown with the largest brain.

Origin

This meme originated as part of the “Whomst” meme where the left column was derivations of the word “Who” were paired with increasingly elaborate pictures of brains depending on how intense the “who” variation was. One of the most popular early examples was posted to /r/dankmemes on January 31st, 2017 by janskishimanski^[1] in a post that gained nearly 1,200 upvotes.

Spread

As “whomst” variations on the Expanding Brain template grew more elaborate, other subjects were applied to Expanding Brain, such as video games and politics. Expanding Brain variations continued appearing on /r/dankmemes and /r/MemeEconomy throughout the month of February.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

Overview

At the 2017 Academy Awards, actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway erroneously announced that the winner for Best Picture was La La Land when in fact it was Moonlight. The resulting confusion and controversy dominated the following morning’s coverage and social media discussion of the Oscars.

History

At the 2017 Academy Awards, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, stars of 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, were the presenters announcing the winner for Best Picture. After Beatty opened the envelope containing the winner, he appeared confused. He showed the card to Dunaway, who announced that La La Land, the favorite going into the Oscars, had won best picture. After three minutes of the La La Land producers’ acceptance speeches, Academy Awards producers rushed the stage to explain there had been a mistake. Beatty had been given the envelope which had the winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which had recently been awarded to Emma Stone for her performance in La La Land. As the situation became clear on stage, La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz took the microphone and said announced that there had been a mistake, and that Moonlight had won best picture. He assured a confused audience that he was not making a joke before taking the card which stated Moonlight had won Best Picture and showing it to the cameras for confirmation.

Developments

The gaffe instantly became the leading story about the Oscars, overshadowing _Moonlight_’s win. While the team behind La La Land received praise for handling the situation with class,^[1] confusion still abounded as to how the gaffe actually happened. Emma Stone, while clarifying that she was extremely happy for Moonlight, caused confusion when she noted that after her envelope containing her award for Best Actress was handed for her, she never let it go, so she was unsure how Beatty could have it.^[2]

An investigation by Quartz^[3] suggested that there had been two cards, held by Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz of the professional services firm PwC, which oversees balloting at the Academy.

Related Memes

Social media users instantly responded to the gaffe with memes.^[5] For example, Twitter user @sporker_^[4] put the Crying Jordan faces on the La La Land poster and gained over 4,600 retweets.

One of the most popular jokes on Twitter involved taking the shot when the camera showed Best Picture card in Horowitz’ hands and photoshopping the text to read something else. Those jokes were compiled into a Twitter Moment^[6] the following day.

Steve Harvey Jokes

The incident reminded many of Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe 2015 Gaffe, in which the television host read the wrong winner off his card at the 2015 Miss Universe competition. Host Jimmy Kimmel joked that Harvey was to blame for the snafu. Twitter abounded with jokes connecting the two gaffes.^[7] In good humor, Harvey tweeted support to Warren Beatty (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

About

Ryan Gosling Whispering refers to jokes about an image of actor Ryan Gosling at the 2017 Academy Awards whispering in the ear of a shocked-looking fan brought on stage by host Jimmy Kimmel.

Origin

At the 2017 Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel did a segment where he brought in actual Los Angeles tourists into the Oscars. He brought several to the front of the stage and introduced them to the actors. One of them, identified as Vickie from Chicago, seemed very excited to meet Ryan Gosling. When Gosling shook her hand, he leaned in and said something, and Vickie looked shocked.

Spread

Immediately after the moment, a screenshot of Gosling whispering in Vickie’s ear began to circulate around Twitter with jokes that made it appear as though Gosling were delivering some bombshell information. Jokes included references to Hail Hydra, Is a Hotdog a Sandwich, The Warriors Blew a 3-1 Lead, and many more. The jokes were covered in Twitter Moments^[1] and Polygon^[2] the following day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

About

If It Pleases the Crown is an image macro series captioned with the phrase “If it pleases the crown,” followed by requests to perform actions that are susceptible to government regulation, which are used to mock laws as unnecessary restrictions imposed by a monarchy against the populace. The series was popularized in late February 2017 in libertarian-leaning political communities on various social media platforms.

Origin

On February 24th, 2017, Twitter user Kally Omally posted a photograph of a father fishing with his son accompanied by the caption “If it pleases the crown / I would like to purchase a license to make fond memories with my child” (shown below).^[1]

Spread

The same day, Instagram user buffalo_tactical^[3] posted a montage of similar image macros with the hashtag “#ifitpleasesthecrown” (shown below).

On February 25th, Redditor whiskeyforall2 posted a collection of “If It Pleases the Crown” image macros to the /r/Libertarian^[2] subreddit.

On February 27th, the Liberty Memes^[4] Facebook page posted a photograph of a dog captioned with a request for police to not shoot the animal when entering their property without a warrant (shown below). Within five hours, the post gained over 1,900 reactions and 850 shares.

Search Interest

External References

About

“Is He /Our Guy/?” is a question asked by members of various 4chan boards to determine if someone represents the community’s core beliefs and values. On the /pol/ (politics) board, it is used when questioning if someone secretly holds alt-right or “red-pilled” political beliefs.

Origin

On June 13th, 2016, a 4chan user submitted a post titled “Is he ‘our guy’?” to the /v/ (video games) board, featuring the profile avatar of YouTube video game reviewer Matthewmatosis (shown below).^[7]

Spread

On July 31st, 2016, a 4chan user submitted a photograph of video game reviewer Joe Vargas asking if he was “‘our’ guy” (shown below).^[8] Over the next several months, an additional 15 posts were submitted to /v/ asking if Vargas was “our guy.”^[9]

On August 12th, 2016, Redditor PhantomTicTacs asked “Where did the ‘our guy’ meme on /tv/ come from?” on /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[6] In the comments section, Redditor freddy_francesco cited the Joe Vargas threads on /v/ as the origin, claiming they subsequently began “to infect other boards.” On October 7th, a 4chan user submitted a photograph of Bill Burr to the /tv/ board along with the message “Meme’s aside, he’s /our guy/, right?” (shown below).^[1]

On February 19th, 2017, a 4chan user submitted a screenshot from the anime Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans with the question “is he our guy?” to the /a/ (anime & manga) board.^[3] On February 25th, 2017, a 4chan user submitted a thread about PewDiePie to /pol/,^[4] claiming he “is confirmed for /our guy/” (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

japanizing beam turns normal objects into animated objects.

This is Timmy ripping out the polar bear’s intestines

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NOTEFROMCREATOR: This entry is currently a W.I.P. (work in progress). You can help by requesting editorship.

About

“Clorox Bleach” is a common name for most channels on video uploading site YouTube. These channels usually tend to have a photo of Clorox bleach as their profile pictures. Most of these channels have different names, such as “Bleach,” “Clorox Bleach Fresh Meadow,” and “Bleach Please.”^[1]

Origin

W.I.P.

Spread

W.I.P.

Various Examples

W.I.P.

External References

^[1]YouTube – What happens if you drink bleach? The origin and meaning of the bleach memes explained / Posted on 9-18-2016

Search Interest

W.I.P.

BLACKED is a porn company that is notable for the interracial works it creates. It is notably spammed on 4chan,notably, the /tv/ and /gif/ boards.

About

Kellyanne Conway’s Oval Office Couch Photo refers to a photograph of Donald Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway seated on a couch in the oval office on top of her legs. After the photo began circulating online in late February 2017, many expressed outrage toward Conway for placing her feet on the couch.

Origin

On February 27th, 2017, Getty Images^[1] photographer Brendan Smialowski photographed Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway checking her phone while seated on top of her legs on a couch in the Oval Office while President Trump posed for a photograph with leaders of historically black universities (shown below).

Spread

That day, the photograph began circulating on Twitter, with many accusing Conway of being disrespectful for putting her feet on the couch and checking her phone (shown below).

That evening, Redditor ahatzz11 submitted the photo to the /r/trashy^[2] subreddit, where it received upwards of 36,900 votes (70% upvoted) and 2,800 comments. The following day, Redditor whatshisuserface invited viewers to photoshop the image in a post on /r/photoshopbattles,^[6] which gathered more than 5,600 votes (86% upvoted) and 340 comments within six hours. Many of the comments contained digitally edited versions of the photo, placing a cutout of Conway in a variety of humorous contexts (shown below).

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online reaction to the photo, including Time,^[3] The Washington Post^[4] and The Huffington Post.^[5]

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

Heine På Tur is an image macro meme which was popularized on the /trash/ board on 4chan.

In 2015, ghetto meme sites on Facebook started mass-posting the meme, effectively turning it into a normie meme. Since then the meme has seen little use, aside from ironic shitposting in discord groups.

About

Zoom In refers to a series of images in which the person posting them instructs the viewer to “Zoom in on the X.” Once the viewer zooms in on the object, they find a tiny bit of text that instructs them to look somewhere else in the picture. This continues until the viewer discovers the punchline or true message written in tiny text on the image.

Original

On February 25th, 2017, Twitter user @SNCKPCK^[1] posted an image of a dog with the instruction “zoom in on the nose.” After giving a couple directions leading viewers around the image, he finally lands on a tiny bit of text that says “You are beautiful” (shown below).

Spread

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Boston Dynamics is a robotics and engineering company owned by Alphabet, Inc. best known online for their robot designs capable of various types of locomotion.

History

In 1992, former MIT professor Marc Raibert formed Boston Dynamics. On December 13th, 2013, Boston Dynamics was acquired by the Alphabet, Inc. research and development facility Google X. In March 2016, Bloomberg News reported that Toyota and Amazon were rumored to be potential buyers of the company.

Online Presence

On March 28th, 2000, the BostonDynamics.com^[2] site was launched. On December 28th, 2013, the /r/BostonDynamics^[1] subreddit was launched for discussions about the robotics company.

YouTube Channel

On February 16th, 2009, the Boston Dynamics YouTube channel posted footage of their LittleDog quadraped robot walking across a table (shown below, left). On April 22nd, 2010, the channel uploaded footage of their BigDog quadraped robot walking through the woods (shown below). Within seven years, the video gained over 6.4 million views and 5,100 comments.

On October 30th, 2011, Boston Dynamics released a video of their PETMAN anthropomorphic robot walking bipedally, accumulating more than 4.4 million views and 3,500 comments within six years (shown below, left). On March 27th, 2012, the channel released a video of their Sand Flea robot capable of jumping 30 feet into the air (shown below, right). Over the next five years, the video gathered over 10 million views and 6,500 comments.

On October 3rd, 2013, a video showcasing the WildCat galloping robot running around a parking lot was released (shown below,). Over the next four years, the video gained over 22 million views and 19,800 comments. On December 22nd, 2015, Boston Dynamics released a Chritmas-themed video of a woman dressed as Santa Claus being pulled by robotic reindeer, which received more than 3.8 million views and 2,700 comments in two years (shown below, right).

On February 23rd, 2016, the channel released a video of the bipedal robot Atlas pushing a door open, walking in the woods and picturing up objects (shown below, left). Over the next year, the video accumulated upwards of 20 million views and 28,400 comments. On June 23rd, footage of the SpotMini quadraped robot was released, which used a retractable claw grabber to manipulate objects and right itself (shown below, right). Within eight months, the video gathered over 5.8 million views and 9,300 comments.

Handle

On February 27th, 2016, Boston Dynamics released a video on YouTube introducing their Handle robot, a wheeled design which stands 6.5 tall and can travel up to 9 mph and jump 4 feet high. Within 24 hours, the video received upwards of 1.7 million views and 6,500 comments. That evening, Twitter published a Moments page titled “The new Boston Dynamics robot can jump, lift, skate and probably kill you,” highlighting notable tweets reacting to the video.^[3]

Search Interest

External References

About

“Spicy Memes” is an ironic expression used to describe humorous online viral media and in-jokes, which is often used as an alternative to the phrase ”dank memes”.

Origin

On August 3rd, 2014, YouTuber NuLL uploaded a video of himself saying “that’s one spicy meme” (shown below).

Spread

On November 15th, 2014, the /r/spicymemes subreddit was launched. On February 10th, 2015, Yahoo Answers^[3] user Shift posted a question titled “My son is addicted to spicy memes?” (shown below, left). On March 22nd, Someecard^[4] user Shoemcgoo submitted an ecard with the caption “I’m about to show you a whole new world of spicy as fuck memes, kiddo” (shown below, right).

On March 15th, 2016, Urban Dictionary^[7] user Xheese juce created the first entry for “spicy meme,” defined as:

“Memes that are more than dank. They are the dankest of the dankest. They are so good that the burn your tongue. It’s spicy.”

On April 12th, Imgur^[6] user narwall101 uploaded a gallery of image macros titled “Spicy meme dump.” On April 28th, the Spicy Memes Facebook^[5] page was launched, garnering upwards of 481,000 likes over the next 10 months. On May 10th, the /r/Spicy_Memes^[8] subreddit was created. On September 3rd, YouTuber PewDiePie uploaded a video titled “Dank PewDiePie Spicy Memes,” highlighting various image macros using screen captures and photos of himself (shown below). Within five months, the video received more than 6.5 million views and 24,900 comments.

On February 24th, 2017, YouTuber Empire Supercars uploaded footage of MIT student Lilly Chen presenting the final Jeopardy! question “Who is the spiciest memelord?“ (shown below). Over the next 72 hours, the video garnered upwards of 875,900 views and 290 comments.

Search Interest

Throughout 2015, “spicy meme” entered widespread usage on multiple media-sharing platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and Tumblr, which is further evidenced by the exponential increase in search interest for the term during that year.

External References

About

Some people?? Use Soda?? To Cope??? is a Tumblrsnowclone that pokes fun at bizarre self-care routines.

Origin

On December 13th, 2016, Tumblr user computerworm^[1] posted a dialogue joke that read:

Bq. me on tumbulr: i hate piss and golden showers
person with a haikyuu doujinshi screenshot icon: ppl use?pisss to cope?great to know???? u hate mentally ill ppl lmao no offence like …. lol

The post has gained over 23,000 notes as of February 28th, 2017.

Spread

The text did not start becoming a popular snowclone until late January, 2017. On January 27th, user ithotyouknew2^[2] reblogged a conversation about soda. In the post, user spacemomayahalloway argued that soda was a means of helping those with ADHD. ithoutyouknew2 added “some people? use soda? to cope???” The post has gained over 69,000 notes.

The post kickstarted the spread of the snowclone on Tumblr, as people made jokes replacing “soda” with various other strange and bizarre things. However, as the joke spread, it also became the target of criticism from people who believed the targets of the jokes were people with mental illnesses. It created a dialogue surrounding the meme’s intentions on the site, which was covered by the memedocumentation^[3] Tumblr in their entry on the meme posted February 27th, 2017.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

EDITOR’S NOTE: This Entry Contains Spoilers for The Legend of Korra

About

“we popping the BIGGEST bottles when makorra happens tomorrow” is a Tumblrsnowclone that expresses excitement around a certain event happening. When the event, generally seen as unpopular to others, doesn’t happen, the text is reblogged with a sad image of Pepe the Frog.

Origin

On December 17th, 2014, Tumblr user avatarskorra posted “we popping the BIGGEST bottles when makorra happens tomorrow” in anticipation of the final episode of The Legend of Korra. “Makorra” refers to a heterosexual ship in The Legend of Korra fandom of the characters Korra and Mako. Instead, the series ended with an implied homosexual romantic relationship between Asami and Korra. After the episode aired, Tumblr user tonraq^[1] reblogged avatarskorra’s post, adding the sad Pepe image. The post has gained over 97,000 notes as of February 28th, 2017.

Spread

On Tumblr, the post has become a notable example of mocking someone in hindsight and celebrating homosexual representation. Many in the Korra fandom were rooting for the homosexual Asami and Korra ship, and the Makorra ship was generally unpopular. A blog devoted to the moment, poppingmakorrabottles,^[2] launched and celebrated what was perceived as a landmark for homosexual representation in cartoons. The snowclone was later applied to various other fandoms and moments, including Steven Universe and the 2017 Academy Awards (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References