Subway Guy Standing Up Clapping Vine Funny
LeBron James and J.R. Smith | Twitter/David_C_Steele/ABC
LeBron James and J.R. Smith | Twitter/David_C_Steele/ABC
2018's memes had big shoes to fill -- it's tough to beat a year of blinking guy, Salt Bae, and disrespectful boyfriend. But if there's one thing we've learned about years, it's that each one somehow manages to become more and more befuddling than the last. So as we continue to make sense (and light) of our hell world, here are a mere handful of the memes we've enjoyed throughout the year, a log we've painstakingly updated, as a nice respite from, you know, all the other stuff.
Check out the best memes of 2017 here.
JANUARY
Tide Pods
Though the Tide Pod fascination started way back in 2012, it reached a hell pitch this month, when teens began posting videos of themselves taking chomps out of the colorful little detergent packets. Bear with me: We agree eating Tide Pods and Gain Flings is capital-"B" bad (don't!), but some of the stuff to come out of the Tide Pod Challenge has been GOOD. See: this insane Gronk PSA, these pizzas, these urgent and kind of awkward responses from Tide, these safety precautions. The other big silver lining here is that the unfavorable spike in publicity means manufacturers will have to keep working hard to make the pods safer and less appealing, snack-wise. (Something they've been trying to do for years.) So a big thank you to teens, for making the world a stupider -- but safer! -- place for the rest of us.
Off Ramps
A Photoshopped still from this "How to exit freeway like a boss" video became the new "I should probably not do this, but fuck it, I'm doing this."
Kylo Ren pants
The most unbelievable part of Star Wars: The Last Jedi? You could make any number of convincing arguments, including but not limited to: Vice Admiral Holdo's suicide attack, a use of silence so arresting it made people think the movie was broken; the lightsaber battle that took place in Snoke's throne room, a stunning display of choreography and unlikely teamwork; the bombing of the Dreadnaught, a true masterclass in nail-biting suspense; Broom Kid's salute to the stars, a coda that evoked a perfect sort of New Hope feeling.
Or, you could just point to the moment Kylo Ren showed everyone his high pants, the most correct. They didn't quite touch the nips, but almost (!), and thanks to the challenges and mysteries that followed, fans won't soon forget.
Google Arts & Culture selfies
How many famous paintings is your face in? None, but Google sought to fudge the month-old question with a selfie feature on its Arts & Culture app, which used facial recognition technology to match your mug with a similar-ish-looking one in a renowned portrait hanging somewhere in a museum. People tried to enjoy this thing -- "Google Figures Out How to Make People Care About Art: Selfies," sang Bloomberg, and "Google's Art Selfies Are Fun but Stir Up Potential Privacy Concerns," said Adweek (very hard to fully enjoy things these days) -- before getting creative. Added Apollo, god of the arts: "Please stop."
Michaela Coel
Given its subject matter, Black Mirror episodes always seem ripe for the memeing. Though the late 2017 release of Season 4 saw some good ones come out of "Metalhead" and "Black Museum," this Michaela Coel's screengrab from "USS Callister" was the true MVP.
The #Girther movement
Thanking Chris Hayes for a meme might feel as wrong as thanking a parent for drugs, but here we are. Thank you, Mr. Hayes. After the head of the Donald Trump Rockin' Bod fan club told reporters our president was in excellent shape, the MSNBC host coined the term "girther" for "those who believe the president weighs more than his doctor reports." Hayes hasn't been knighted yet, because we don't do that sort of thing here, but the comparisons that sprang from his noble public service were the tiniest, not-at-all-equitable bit of karma for the man who was a major player in the racist birther movement.
#BlackHogwarts
The casual fanfiction that resulted from this hashtag was great, but best of all, we learned that the surreal comedy duo known as The Lucas Brothers wrote an animated show where they get stuck in a magical HBCU. (We need it now.)
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. "Where the large son is unchecked energy, an absolute unit is the picture of poise," wrote MEL Magazine's Miles Klee, "proof that the seemingly uncontainable aggression of mammoth males can button itself up; that men may break with patrilineal pressure, becoming something other than bumbling junior apprentice. Unlike large adult sons, the unit isn't bound by the inconvenience of gender. Properly speaking, the absolute unit needn't be masculine, or even human -- just absolute." Behold, marvel away.
Karma's a bitch
Near the end of the month, we got this fun, mostly wholesome, endlessly rewatchable challenge, in which participants lip-sync Veronica's now-infamous line from Riverdale Season 2, toss something in front of their face, and transform into some sort of fierce alter ego. Turns out revenge is a dish best served… with a new face?
What's your child texting about?
Worried about what your kids are really discussing online? It can be hard to keep up with teens, their ever-changing trends, and their mystifying slanguage. Fear not. Taking a page out of this influential decoder's book, internet heroes have -- thankfully! -- been doing the Lord's work, unmasking classic acronyms and abbreviations and revealing what they truly are. At least for very specific cliques.
My FBI agent
Edward Snowden. Charlie Brooker. A gentle but consistent stream of hacking news. Whether because of pop culture or current events, many internet users now seem carelessly aware that someone might be spying on them through their phones and laptops. Cause for panic? No, more like,Wow, someone's spying on me? Hello, new friend!Though these jokes have been floating around for a few months, it hasn't been until recently that they've really taken hold. Fortunately, everyone seems to have a better relationship with the person spying on them than the kid in that one Black Mirror episode.
FEBRUARY
Though February flew by, it was a month punctuated by major events. The Super Bowl. The Grammys. The second coming of the Green M&M. All delivered, in one way or another, unless you were rooting for Kendrick Lamar to win Album of the Year.
Precious When You Smile
Bazzi's "Mine" came out last year, but the song has gotten new life in recent months thanks to a floating-heart filter from Snapchat. In other words, a match made in heaven.
Super Bowl selfie kid
The Super Bowl yielded several great internet moments, but the standout was this kid who, near the end of Justin Timberlake's halftime extravaganza, quickly fumbled for his phone and tried to snag some "Super Bowl Selfies!" "I just thought to myself, 'I'll never get this opportunity again in my whole life,'" the kid told the Pioneer Press. "I just went for it." On the inside, he was apparently excited, but on the outside, it looked like he was furiously preoccupied with everything from "Cat Person" and Scientology to the strange fact that someone who may or may not have been Ellen DeGeneres was standing right next to him.
Bullet Man
Outside the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center in PyeongChang, South Korea, stand Diglett's cousins, three silver statues of helmeted muscle-men, aka "Bullet Men." They are naked. They are phallic. They are one of the best highlights to come out of this year's Winter Olympics. Because when they're not busy standing still, they are getting memed to hell and back.
Green M&M
Last year, Tumblr user relishboi shared a rather demanding message from the Green M&M: "now listen to me young man, i am talking directly into your ear now. i need you to do me a favor. you will do this for me. i need you to go to gamestop, and i need you to ask the bastard working the counter if they have bambi on the ps2. if you come back empty handed youll be in big trouble mister. you will never see the light of day." It's been quite some time since that initial posting, but make no mistake, she's back and she really wants that Bambi.
"I pledge to work for free"
Joining the passionate chorus of psychos advocating for more weapons in schools, Twitter user CarlosCruz2016 posted a picture of himself, sporting weapons and combat gear, with the caption: "I PLEDGE TO WORK FOR FREE for any school to help secure the children. I am a 29 year retired veteran, Infantry Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Ranger with combat experience. I have a conceal carry, Primary and Alternate side arms, an AR-15, and all necessary tactical gear." It sounded like the kind of bold, declarative, ultimately insane tweet James Woods might write. It wasn't, but it still got mercilessly sent up by the internet.
Gym Kardashian
In an alternate universe, Popeye and Kris Jenner raised a kid. Her name? Gym Kardashian.
Change my mind
On February 16, conservative "comedian" Steven Crowder set up a table on Texas Christian University's campus with a sign that read, "Male privilege is a myth. Change my mind." He then tweeted a pic of himself at said table, holding a coffee mug, grinning hesitantly. It's unclear if anyone changed his mind, but plenty changed his sign.
MARCH
Savage Patrick
A little like Evil Kermit, but Patrick.
Jennifer Garner clapping at the Oscars
Move over, Meryl. (Yes, you managed to one-up your old meme, a wildly impressive but also extremely expected feat.) Jennifer Garner, clapping at the Oscars like a dying Energizer Bunny who realized it left the oven on and maybe burned down the house, is our new hero.
Ready Player One posters
The team behind Steven Spielberg's big sci-fi flick has had a tough time figuring out promotional posters. First, there was the leg scandal. Then, the dreaded homages. Now, no movie poster will ever be the same.
Gru's plan
When Despicable Me's Gru first presented his steal-the-moon plan it ended with him sitting on the toilet -- i.e., a development he hadn't anticipated. (Oops!) You shouldn't be surprised to see that his other bright ideas also have hiccups.
Krusty Krab vs. Chum Bucket
A nice visual representation to sum up your spiciest of takes. You know how this goes: good vs. evil, winner vs. loser, the old Snapchat vs. the new Snapchat.
Ben Affleck's back tattoo
Sad Affleck can't catch a break. In the summer of 2015, the tabloids pounced on pics that showed the actor -- post-split with Jennifer Garner -- sporting what looked like a big, midlife-crisis-y tattoo of something. It turned out to be a garish phoenix, the kind that's so bad Affleck would later tellExtra's Mario Lopez it was "fake for a movie." But no. As The New Yorker's Naomi Fry put it, the tat has "returned to haunt the headlines, itself a phoenix rising from the ashes of gossip rags past."
"Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover event in history"
Is it?
American Chopper argument
(Not so) long ago, there existed a program titled American Chopper, about the Teutul family, a tough bunch of guys who built neat bikes. Today, this heated scene from said show, in which Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. argue with words 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.
SpongeBob NoPants
In the Season 1 episode "Nature Pants," SpongeBob ditched his bottoms to live free as a jellyfish, with the jellyfish. This upsets Patrick -- fun fact: the one and onlySavage Patrick -- which leads to a cat-and-mouse-style chase that tuckers the li'l sponge guy out and prompts him to take a breather. Now, his exhaustion from that moment persists as a way for you to express your own fatigue. Whether it's due to paying for expensive things, putting on a fitted sheet all by yourself, or, perhaps most appropriate, seeing ANOTHER freaking SpongeBob meme.
For the Damaged Coda
In the 10th episode of Rick and Morty, as (spoiler alert!) Evil Morty doffs his eye patch and reveals his, you know, evildoing, Blonde Redhead's "For the Damaged Coda" blares. It's an exclamation point for the horror show that is "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind." That twist, though! We loved it. We also love that the needle drop lives on as the soundtrack for the world's other most punishing twists.
Is This Your King?
In Black Panther, before handily trouncing T'Challa, Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger yells, "Is this your king?" He can't believe people could follow such an unworthy ruler. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his incredulity has gone on to take many other forms and targets.
Fortnite
Over the course of the last few months, this insanely popular, addictive freemium game has become influential on a staggering scale -- whether you're aware of it or not. Fortnite has wooed countless celebs, concerned just as many parents, and invaded the sports world. The cult of the game can be baffling, but it's very real. Just dance.
Squinting woman
It's another heartwearming story of an average human being thirsty for likes, just like you and me, becoming a viral meme. Twitter user @solo_kalin posted a behind-the-scenes photo of an Instagram photo shoot where she was twisted up into some tough-to-hold poses in 4" heels. Her exasperation is real!
APRIL
Here we are. April, so cruel a month that this year it probably messed with your concept of spring, made you reconsider your plans for an apocalypse bunker, and (re-)birthed the lame "If You Can't Handle Me at My X" thing. WILD. As for that last point, though, the internet's gatekeeper, Chrissy Teigen, thankfully dubbed the rehash done before it could really restart, and we don't need to talk about it much more because, truly, stranger shit happened:
Sparkles
From whence came these magical Twitter sparkles? And why? We know not, but we hope the forecast calls for more.
Yodel Boi
When 12-year-old Mason Ramsey, aka Lil Hank (yes, as in Williams), went to Walmart at the end of March, he probably didn't realize he was going to light up the internet. He did. Not long after posting up at Spill Clean-Up Station J8 and yodeling through "Lovesick Blues," the budding musician was getting remixed and... performing at Coachella? Uh, yep. We anticipate his 8 Mile-style Netflix original biopic real soon.
Rihanna's Body Lava
To promote her new body lava, the singer... applied it. But wait a sec. Promotion? Or challenge? Many viewed it as the latter, grabbing whatever they could -- mop, boot, pupper -- and doing their best to out-apply her.
Mark Zuckerberg
Near the beginning of the month, the world got to see Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg testify in front of Congress about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The event gave the man known as Zucc majorly renewed meme interest (see: Zucc juice, booster seats, and robot quips, among many other things). Most importantly, though, we learned that Zucc not protec, Zucc not attac, instead he just get super thicc.
Who killed Hannibal?
Nowadays, everyone's a hypocrite.
Floating boy chasing running boy
Sad this meme doesn't have a catchier name because this confounding dorm room moment deserves better.
Дpyr
A Creepy Deathclaw from Fallout or… a mild-mannered outsider who just wants to feel seen? Judge for yourself, but we think Дpyr (i.e., "friend") is tragically misunderstood.
Gorls
Where were you when the world went gorl crazy?
MAY
Is this a pigeon?
No. P.S.: Though this anime still -- from the '90s series The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird -- has been making the rounds on the internet for at least half a dozen years, it's been revived, like a sassy Lazarus, for remixes and Distracted Boyfriend-esque object-labeling. Read more about its legitimately fascinating origins here.
Yanny or Laurel
This aural version of #TheDress (RI-not-P) got so big so fast it spawned several crossovers, a handful of real-world changes (see above), and at least one tingly, erotic short story. Then, as with most things in 2018, it fizzled out almost as quickly as it started, and thank God.
By Age 35
At the beginning of the year, MarketWatch published an article about money milestones, sharing what retirement experts thought Millennials' finances should look like once they reach their 30s. One of the key takeaways -- used in a tweet promoting the story -- said, "By 35, you should have twice your salary saved." The helpful "get rich!" advice wasn't roasted immediately, but by the time Mother's Day rolled around, many readers were rolling in a surplus of reality checks and other suggestions.
The 2018 Royal Wedding
Arizona Iced Tea dresses, a Green-Screen Queen, IRL Disney moments, and… Louis Litt -- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Royal Wedding truly had no dearth of meme-orable moments.
We live in a society
If you're having trouble grasping the context and use of this, just think back to the "you vs. the guy she tells you not to worry about" meme. Twist that to fit under-appreciated cultural artifacts vs. its viral analogue and you've got it down. More or less.
I don't feel so good
Poor Spidey. "I don't feel so good," said Tom Holland's young hero at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, when (spoiler alert!) he and everybody else who definitely aren't dead began disintegrating. A heartbreaking moment, to be sure. OK, maybe not. But definitely, as you might have immediately sensed, a great refrain and visual for other things that are in danger or fading away. Works especially well, in fact, for cancellations.
Stairwell Kermit
The Kermit memes were getting darker, but we never thought it would come to this );
JUNE
LeBron's reaction to J.R. Smith's screwup
All year, Cleveland's LeBron James has been a steady font of basketball meme-spiration. There was the big trade, the self-congratulations for scoring 30,000 NBA points, the never-ending MJ comparisons, the LeBron clones. The fun, of course, started hitting fever-pitch levels the beginning of this summer, when the NBA superstar turned an unlikely postseason into his eighth Finals appearance -- an amazing, age-defying feat. But perhaps no one will forget that frustrating, almost glorious Game 1 masterpiece-turned-tragedy that gave birth to LeBron's wholly relatable reaction. C'mon, J.R.
Waluigi's Smash Snub
Earlier this summer, Super Smash Bros. fans were gifted the news that the franchise's much-anticipated Ultimate title would include "everyone" that had previously been playable. (Not to mention some notable newcomers.) What a party! Sadly, it appears someone's invite got lost in the mail: none other than the Nintendo meme king himself, Waluigi. An injustice. A travesty -- one that generated endless wah-ing, a tribute, and a Netflix show that we need ASAP.
The most successful people I've met
If you've used the internet in the last... since it's been around, you might have noticed earnestness doesn't always fare very well. Twitter user "Pomp" learned this truth the hard way earlier in the summer when he listed the habits of the most successful people he's met. The tweet offered tips that ranged from the concrete ("Workout daily") to the more abstract ("Have laser focus," "Demand excellence in everything they do"). The list was helpful, inspiring, and, of course, ripe for mocking.
Senegal's Coach
The World Cup giveth and the World Cup taketh away. We know this truth to be self-evident, but when the tournament giveth, it giveth some truly, truly Good Things. Case in point: Senegal coach Aliou Cissé, whose celebration (and basically everything else he did) during his team's 2-1 victory over Poland, became the best meme of the 2018 World Cup yet.
Boar Vessel
At the end of 2012, some generous soul uploaded a pic of this sculpture, from the Cleveland Museum of Art, to Wikimedia Commons, describing it, succinctly, as "Boar Vessel, 600-500 BC, Etruscan, ceramic." Little did the uploader know, this picture would one day become the gift that, for some reason, kept on giving. Indeed, it's taken a while to pick up steam, but now, kind of like 2018's version of "öats," it's become everyone's most (inexplicably) prized possession. The new King of Random even has its own subreddit.
Ye album covers
Kanye West put out his new album Ye on June 1. The music is fine, but more important than that is all the memes the cover -- which says "I hate being Bi-Polar / its awesome" -- inspired. It's reminiscent of 2015's If You're Reading This It's Too Late meme.
*slaps roof of car*
Yet another meme that lived a past life in 2014, *slaps roof of car* has rolled back around the block as the primary template for snake oil salesmanship.
Young Thug on the computer
Here's Young Thug hard at work on probably a fire track with Lil Durk to his right, our left, who happens to look like he's hacking the mainframe.
Big Dick Energy
Big Dick Energy was born when Ariana Grande got to tweeting some of Pete Davidson's personal stats. In short, Big Dick Energy defined means confidence without being arrogant, cool without trying too hard, chill without being directionless. Big Dick Energy is a certain je ne sais quoi a person exudes. A big dick is not actually required to possess this elusive quality.
JULY
Polite cat
Though the image originated on 9gag, this (very fake) text exchange between a renter with a (definitely photoshopped) derpy-faced cat and the chillest landlord of all time kicked off the Polite Cat meme.
Howard the alien
The goofy looking grey alien dancing to a deep-fried version of Lil Uzi Vert's "Money Longer" cannot really be explained… it can only be experienced.
Handshakes
The two strong men engaged in this very masculine handshake is actually a fan illustration uploaded to deviantART in 2012 of a scene from 1987's Predator. Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) turns to find his old buddy Dillon (Carl Weathers) waiting for him, exclaiming "Dillon! You son of a bitch." The buff men approach and engage in a friendly strongman handshake, the shot lingering on the interlocking arms to emphasize just how ripped The Arnold and Weathers are. The image became a true meme in May when the confounding revelation that Elon Musk and Grimes were dating, but it didn't quite take off widely until months later. Such is the way of the meme. Use handshakes to demonstrate the mutual interests of two seemingly opposing factions. Subgenres of the handshake meme include business handshakes, close-up handshakes, multi-person wrist-grabbing orgy, fists in, and holding hands.
Parody Elon Musk accounts
The unhinged technolibertarian CEO of Telsa is known to fire off tweets like throwing pennies into a wishing well, which usually turns his dumbass comments into "Elon Musk said what??" kind of viral moments. Clever Twitter users capitalized on his oft-confounding opinions into stereotypical nationality + Elon Musk accounts (Italian Elon Musk, French Élon Musque) to dutifully mock the guy. Soon after, Twitter started temporarily banning any users with "Elon Musk" in their display names, allegedly to crack down on crypto scamming. All accounts were short-lived, but they were an indelible presence for their all-too-brief lives.
The Aquaman poster
Jason Momoa is Aquaman! The first images for this DC Comics adaptation were released mid-July, and boy oh boy, did the internet have its hayday with the confluence of stock fish images the poster relied on for its packed underworld of sea creatures.
Melania gardening
She has definitely never done any manual labor for one day of her life.
AUGUST
Give Carly Rae Jepsen a sword
Tumblr user asketh, Carly Rae Jepsen receiveth. A social media campaign that started on Tumblr via u/swordlesbianopinions, demanding the pop icon get a sword, migrated to Twitter spawning various accounts and plenty of fan art. The prophecy was fulfilled at Lollapallooza in early August: During "Cut to the Feeling," a fan handed Carly Rae Jepsen a goddamn inflatable sword. Rarely do we see follow through of a meme like this!
Bibble singing
Bibble, for those of us who don't keep up with the Barbie movie canon, is a talking (?) pet (?) fairy (?) that follows Barbie and her crew doing whatever they do in the Barbie Cinematic Universe. The deep-fried meme was specifically screenshotted from 2006's Barbie: Mermadia, where Bibble discovers magic berries that compel him to sing, sing, sing! Use Bibble anytime you want to belt out your embarrassing favorite songs from your youth free of remorse or shame.
"Hurt me"
"Things during sex" has been a popular theme for memes this year; the "hurt me" format is just another in a string of too-real jokes on Twitter.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
The covers of these iconic skate video games are the templates for whatever the hell you want them to be.
To All The Boys…
In August, Netflix released its latest in a string of rom-com movies, Jenny Han's adapted YA novel To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Naturally, the mouthful of a title was co-opted by Online in a selective instance of Good, Nihilist Fandom. Runner up in TATBILB memedom is a universal obsession with leading heartthrob, Peter Kavinsky.
Johnny Johnny Yes Papa
Johnny Johnny Yes Papa, a deranged nursery rhyme about eating sugar loosely set to the melody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," is brain-meltingly troubling, absurd, and stupid. The original Johnny Johnny song dates back to a 2012 animated YouTube video starring a bootleg Peter Griffin and a random weepy kid. Following iterations of JJYP have improved on the song, the imagery, and the characters, leading to an entire genre of YouTube videos (one of which has become one of the most-watched viral videos of the year) and a whole subreddit devoted to sharing them. It officially became a 2018 meme when a clip surfaced on Twitter; the disproportionately large-headed baby and his mustachioed pa-PA broke everyone's brain, sending them into a descending spiral of madness. One cannot truly describe the stifling viscerality of Johnny Johnny Yes Papa; one must experience it for oneself.
Celebrity full names
The Rock's full name is Theodore Rockefeller. Lil Pump's real name is Lilliam Pumpanickel. 50 Cent's full name is 50th Century. Thanks to this Google screenshot meme, which dates back to a blip in 2015, we know these to be definitely true and not verifiably false facts about celebs' names.
Really start dressin
The start of fall means more layers, baby!! Oversized everything (coats, shoes, hats, scarves, etc.) became the visual cues for the seasonal shifts when people get to really start dressin.
Do Y'all Hear Sumn
Of the multitude of Spongebob memes, Squidward hadn't yet had his breakout moment until Do Y'all Hear Sumn came along. Taking his characteristic no-fucks-given attitude and applying it in situations we simply can't deal with, Do Y'all Hear Sumn works across any cartoon character with a scowl.
SEPTEMBER
A Star is Born
The thrice-remade movie about building up a singular talent starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga had only released a trailer when the memes started appearing. Everything from press appearances (where name placards read "B. Cooper" and "L. Gaga") to trailer mashups to screenshotted images macros have flourished across the internet, making A Star Is Born likely the most memed movie of all time.
Colin Kaepernick's Nike ad
In early September, Nike released the latest version of its Just Do It campaign featuring the face of Colin Kaepernick, who has effectively been blacklisted from the NFL for peacefully protesting police brutality against African-Americans by taking a knee during the national anthem, underneath the slogan, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." Reactionary conservatives (starting with Alec Baldwin) quickly jumped on the ad, making their own bad versions (see: Mike Huckabee, et al.) and destroying their Nike products to boycott the brand (which failed: Nike has made $6 billion since the ad came out). But everyone else came to play, too, which resulted in some seriously sick burns of the people setting their Nike shoes on fire, and dank memes.
Elon Musk smoking weed
As if the world needed another reason to think about Elon Musk pretending that he's a "cool, down-to-earth guy," he went onto Joe Rogan's podcast and smoked some weed. Remember, Musk basically credits this very chill pastime to his not-so-new girlfriend, Claire Boucher, aka the musician Grimes.
Bongo cat
It's a cute little guy that plays various musical instruments! This isn't a reference to anything; a flailing Rogu (that's the cat's name) was drawn and animated by Twitter user @StrayRogue back in May, and in September, u/DitzyFlama uploaded a video of Rogu banging on some bongos to YouTube. The remixes came rolling in shortly after.
Netflix adaptations
Netflix is notorious for producing piles of B-level movies, and its inconsistent quality of programming is responsible for this meme, which, in its purest form, escalates from "Manga" to "Anime" to "Netflix adaptation," the jankiest-looking of all.
Zendaya is Meechee
Zendaya is Meechee. LeBron James is Gwangi. Danny DeVito is Dorgle. Former Vine star Gabriel Gundacker, thank you for turning these Smallfoot promotional posters into art.
Gritty
For a brief moment, Gritty was just the newly unveiled, googly eyed mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers. Approximately five seconds after the absurd announcement video was posted to Twitter, Gritty transcended the hockey rink and into the zeitgeist, becoming eyelid-less nightmare fuel and, more importantly, the nonbinary genderqueer icon of fall, reportedly dating the Philly Phanatic (not dissimilar to the ascension of shipping The Babadook and Pennywise). Yes, Gritty memes itself, but that only means that Gritty has a superb and self-aware online presence.
Moths
Moths are drawn to lamps. Why did this specific reddit user-captured photo of a glowing-eyed moth spawned a meme genre? I dunno, why do moths like light, man?
"Why do good girls like bad guys"
Tik Tok, F.K.A. Musical.ly, is a hell app where people essentially make looping videos of themselves lip-syncing to short clips of songs or user-uploaded material. It's basically Vine minus most of the originality and magic that went into making the defunct app good. This "challenge" -- set to a specific line from the 2012 song "Good Girls Bad Guys" by Falling In Reverse, a nu-core band of former theater kids with shitty haircuts -- swept Tik Tok in late summer as a less good version of "Karma's a bitch" (see: January).
"Party Rock Anthem" BPM
Jog your memory back to 2011, when uncle-nephew DJ duo LMFAO was inescapable, particularly song of summer "Party Rock Anthem." OK, now come back to 2018 where the dance apocalypse video for the earworm has been hijacked for this very good meme where people figured out that tons of other anachronistic songs (ie. Neon Genesis Evangelion theme, Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl," etc.) have the exact same beats per minute of "Party Rock Anthem," and set them to the choreography during the main riff of the song you wish you could forget.
"Da-me"
Back on Tik Tok, "ways to say 'dame'" took off, especially within the cosplaying community. "Dame" (pronounced "dah-meh") is Japanese for "bad" or "no good," and this unsourced song is a lesson in different ways a person could express criticism with it (ie. cute, like a machine, with an echo, strangely, etc.). The internet, what a place!!!!!!!
Jordan Peele's Obama meet and greet
This newly object labeled Obama sketch from Key & Peele back in 2014 won the approval of Jordan Peele himself. That's how you know it's quality.
Weird flex but ok
This catchphrase has existed in the online lexicon for some time, but it wasn't until September 2018 that it harnessed its true purpose: owning huge dumbasses for bragging about incredibly inane things (see: above tweet). Now it's so popular, you'll hear it casually dropped in real-life conversations with even the biggest normie you know.
OCTOBER
September 30th vs. October 1st
The internet loves the spooky month, and to commemorate: a meme.
Presidential alert
FEMA blasted a nationwide "Presidential Alert" on October 3 at 2:18pm to test a new emergency alert system. The text itself was annoying but innocuous, and we the people got a few good jokes out of it.
Fat Bear Week
OK, so Fat Bear Week is exactly what you'd expect it'd be: a celebration of the fattest bears who, gearing up for hibernation this winter, can't and won't stop eating enormous amounts of food several times their bodyweight. Specifically, this pertains to the bears residing in Katmai National Park in Alaska, where the geniuses who run the park's social media presence drew up a March Madness-like bracket to get people to tune into their live nature feeds. A singular day in 2015 expanded to a week due to the public's ravenous response to the fattest bears in America. This isn't as much of a meme as is it a lifestyle.
Let's get this bread
Everyone was perfectly content to leave the hustler mantra "let's get this bread" back in the year it belongs (2007, thanks for asking) until World Bread Day reared its ugly head to haunt us all.
"thank u, next"
Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande's whirlwind engagement and breakup, God bless 'em, happened to bring us a pop banger Grande dropped an hour before an SNL episode went live (where Davidson addressed their relationship during a Weekend Update segment). It wasn't long for the song about appreciating your exes was appropriated into a popular meme format pulled from the lyrics: one taught me love, one taught me patience, one taught me pain.
Chonk
A profoundly large cat is heretofore known as a "chonk."
NOVEMBER
Not a cellphone in sight
Don't you just miss the days before cell phones were everywhere???? When we could justappreciate the moment?? Same, same.
Voting in 2016 vs. voting in 2018
It's been a real doozy these past two years.
Surprised Pikachu
This screenshot of Pikachu from Season 1 of the original Pokémon TV series floated around the Tumblr-sphere for a month or so before its breakthrough moment when the super-cuteDetective Pikachu trailer was released in November.
"Don't say it"
A loathsome meme! Why is it on this list, then? Because you numbskulls won't stop using it!
Microwaving a turkey
Y'know how there was a bunch of salmonella warnings about turkey and romaine lettuce right around Thanksgiving? It follows, then, that the idea of microwaving a 25 pound turkey would set off the "NO, DON'T DO THAT" alarm, which makes the prank text of asking your mom how to best microwave a turkey and screenshotting it sorta funny.
Grape surgery
OK, so first off: The original video this meme comes from is OLD. It's from 2010, where doctors in suburban Illinois were showing off their latest state-of-the-art robotic surgical technology. This isn't even the first time it's gone viral; It's more like the third. Anyway, nobody can stop saying, "They did surgery on a grape," thanks to the Instagram meme account @simpledorito screenshotting a year-old text-on-screen video by Cheddar that said, absurdly, "They did surgery on a grape." (Yes, it's real.) If you didn't know already, they did surgery on a grape.
He's not your man
The ol' bait and switch!
Video killed the radio star
This meme is dark, so of course it would provide a perfect template for conspiracy theories and generally taboo topics in a palatable format relying on the classic Buggles' hit, "Video Killed the Radio Star."
Knickers
In late November, an Australian news service tweeted about the absolutely massive unit, Kickers the steer. Since then, other publications have begun to one-up Knickers' girth by finding even bigger bovine, the cycle of which we expect to last ad infinitum.
Iguana dinner date
Iggy the iguana just couldn't keep it together during the salad course of dinner with his owner Conner. Don't worry, though: Iggy might have taken a hard fall, but according to Conner, he's totally fine.
DECEMBER
"Female-presenting nipples"
On December 3, Tumblr announced that it was going to start banning adult content, including "images, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples." The backlash, outside of the legitimate outrage at the blogging platform's decision to censor content that drove a fifth of its monthly traffic, centered mostly around the confounding phrase "female-presenting nipples," because what does that even mean?
Stop using anti-animal language
The People agree: PETA officially took their activism too far with a chart about how to be less "speciesist" in idioms.
Sonic the Hedgehog
If you haven't heard yet, we're getting a Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2019, with Sonic voiced by comedian Ben Schwartz, who had a very funny appearance on Larry King Now. The most disturbing of the new Sonic memes: probably his beefy legs!
"[X] is a Christmas movie"
This season of yuletide, people decided to resurrect the bad and boring debate: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? The answer is, who cares!!! The Christmas Dialogue Fatigue resulted in psychotic spillover that progressed from crowning movies that sort've have the holidays in the background as Christmas movies to calling Venom a Christmas movie.
Guys are disgusting
First it was apartments. Then, it was the bathrooms. Men, get your shit together.
Turtleneck sweater dogs
The coziest, most chic Turkish greyhounds on the internet.
This post has been updated throughout.
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Source: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-memes-2018
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