About
“If You Can’t Handle Me at My X, You Don’t Deserve Me at My X” is a snowclone of the phrase “If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best,” which is most often used in the early stages of romance. The phrase is often mutated or used in parody.
Original
The quote’s original source is unknown, but it is often misattributed to Marilyn Monroe in the following form:
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”[1]
Spread
With the advent of online dating, the phrase, both the original and slightly mutated versions, became widely used on personal profiles, often as a warning to potential suitors. Multiple posts on reddit refer to this phenomenon, including highly upvoted ones in the subreddits /r/tinder, /r/okcupid, and /r/circlejerk.[2][3][4] In addition, the phrase was used on reddit to refer to images of domestic violence in both the /r/imgoingtohellforthis.[5] In addition, between 2009 and 2011, several images with the quote written on photographs of Marilyn Monroe went into wide circulation on Tumblr.[6]
Later, as mutations became stranger, image macros featuring very outlandish versions became more and more popular on Tumblr, while the original quote fell out of favor. Some of the more popular versions reference celebrities, television characters, or anime characters, and are posted on Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram.[7][8][9]
You Don’t Deserve My At My Dootiest
One of the most popular mutations, “If You Can’t Handle Me at My Spookiest, Then You Don’t Deserve Me At My Dootiest,” originated in the Skull Trumpet subreddit, /r/ledootgeneration in a post titled “If you can’t handle me at my flootiest you don’t deserve me at my dootiest” by DonTori, posted on July 12th, 2015.[10] The post featured a GIF of a skeleton playing a flute made of bone, and received 2,914 points (92% upvoted). The post’s format was then copied over 60 times by members of the subreddit, with different words always substituting for the “word” “flootiest,” but the word “Dootiest” staying the same in each post.[11] In addition, the popular form of the mutation became a common skeleton-relatedcopypasta.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Elle – MARILYN MONROE’S BESTQUOTE WASN’T BY MARILYN MONROE":http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a15424/marilyn-monroe-misquotations/
[2]/r/tinder – if you can’t handle me at my worst
[3]/r/okcupid – If I ever come across the “If you can’t handle me at my worst…” line in a profile, I’m sending them this. Okilly-dokilly?
[4]/r/circlejerk – Last week my girlfriend said “If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you don’t deserve me at my best” so I killed her. Reddit, in what other ways are you a gay rights activist?
[5]/r/imgoingtohellforthis – If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best
[6]Google – Search: if you can’t handle me at my worst
[7]Pinterest – Search: if you can’t handle me at my
[8]Tumblr – Search: if you can’t handle me at my
[9]Instagram – #ifyoucanthandlemeatmyworst
[10]/r/ledootgeneration – If you can’t handle me at my flootiest you don’t deserve me at my dootiest
[11]/r/ledootgeneration – "if you can’t handle me at my ":https://www.reddit.com/r/ledootgeneration/search?q=if+you+can%27t+handle+me+at+my+&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all#page=1