About

Padamalgam is an internet slang, contraction of the French sentence pas d’amalgame which means no conflation in English. Initially used to convey mockery and criticism of the perceived overly political correctness from the French mainstream media when reporting on acts of violence comitted by people of a specific social background and religious orientation, namely Islam, the term has then been embraced by various islamophobic groups on social networking sites.

Origins

Among the earliest blog posts coining the term is an article from Les enfants de la zone grise^[1], issued on May 5th 2010 and titled “Grande peur des non-pensants”, arguing that the French media are quick on dismissing any argument in favor of a causal relationship between acts of violence comitted by muslims and Islam itself under the pretense of not wanting to promote conflating or denigratory comments against them.

Spread

While the slang didn’t get as much notability online in the years 2010 and 2011, it got a resurgence on March 21th 2012 when it was converted to an hashtag and posted to Twitter, following the Toulouse and Montauban shootings^[2] (shown below).

!!

On that same month, many articles and blog posts^[3][4] were made reusing the slang in order to mock the media and the government on how they covered the event by first claiming the attacks were done by a neo-nazi before revealing the real culprit was muslim Mohammed Merah. The Huffington Post also parodied this sentiment of “political correctness”, in a cartoon presenting a spokeperson stating that no conflation should be made between the shooting and Japan because the killer was riding a japanese-made bike^[5] (shown below).

!!

As a matter of fact, many French right-wing groups took this new slang on their own to highlight perceived threats coming from Islam^[6].

The 2015 shootings

The hashtag #padamalgam got a resurgence in popularity following the 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting as well as the 2015 Copenhagen shootings^[9]. Many tweets were very critical of the fact muslims were the perpretretors of both attacks. Some users even made parodie images of medicine tablets with the name padamalgam as pills that enable people to be oblivious to a perceived increase in attacks only perpetrated by muslims. Newspaper Le Monde commented on the phenomenon^[7] and its islamophobic tone, highlighting the tweets as well as several facebook pages^[8] made after the name.

Twitter insight

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External References

About

“El Risitas” Interview Parodies refers to a video remix series based on a TV interview with the Spanish comedian and actor Juan Joya Borja, better known by his nickname “El Risitas” (“The Giggles”) stemming from his signature laughter, and a variety of parody subtitles depicting Borja as an employee of a well-known consumer tech or media company who openly mocks his customers, bearing much resemblance to the “And Then I Said…” image macros in tone and the “Hitler Reacts” videos in style of presentation.

Origin

In June 2007, Borja was interviewed by host Jesus Quintero on the Spanish-language television program Ratones Coloraos, where he burst into laughter after telling a humorous anecdote about throwing kitchen pans into the sea while working at a beach restaurant as a young man (shown below). On June 21st, the Jesus Quintero YouTube channel uploaded the interview segment, which gained over 1.1 million views over the next eight years (shown below).

Spread

On March 28th, 2014, the Thursday Comics YouTube channel uploaded a falsely subtitled version of the interview released by the Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian Islamist movement, which portrays Borja as a man commenting on the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (shown below). Over the next year, the video received upwards of 850,000 views and 920 comments. In October, a group of Egyptian students released a subtitled version of a different interview with Borjas, with captions mocking the private security used to contain protests at Egyptian universities.^[6]

On January 30th, 2015, YouTuber ClukosGaming uploaded a subtitled version of the interview depicting Borja as a designer for the GTX 970, graphic card, claiming that the hardware was deliberately sabotaged (shown below, left). On February 1st, Reditor brighterside submitted the video to the /r/gaming^[3] subreddit. Within one month, the video garnered more than 780,000 views on YouTube and 2,700 votes (85% upvoted) on Reddit. The same day, YouTuber chicane486 uploaded a video portraying Borja as a Team Fortress 2 employee, who jokes about the various unpopular changes made to the first-person shooter game (shown below, right). On February 2nd, Redditor Reniva posted the video on the /r/tf2^[4] subreddit, where it gathered upwards of 1,000 votes (88% upvoted) in the next three weeks.

On the following day, YouTuber Dota 420 posted a video titled “Shocking interview with Valve Dota 2 employee,” in which Borja is translated as a Valve employee poking fun at Defense of the Ancients 2 players (shown below, left). On February 4th, YouTuber DirtyNoona uploaded a subtitled video titled “Interview with an OC Transpo employee,” in which Borja is depicted as an uncaring employee for the bus transit service OC Transpo in Ottawa and Carleton, Canada (shown below, right).

Search Interest

Not available.

External Links

About

“Cultural Appropriation” refers to the practice of adopting various aspects of a minority culture by individuals belonging to a dominant cultural group, including iconography, music, language and social behavior. The practice is often portrayed in a negative light by those who view it as exploitative or culturally insensitive. Others have rejected the charge that it is harmful, claiming that cultural imitation is done out of admiration with no intent to harm.

Origin

The exact origin of the term “cultural appropriation” is unknown, although the concept appears to have been predominately used in academic circles in sociology and anthropology prior to the Internet. On September 9th, 2003, the book Everything But the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture^[9] by Greg Tate was released. On November 12th, 2004, the pop song “Harajuku Girls” by Gwen Stefani was released with her debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (shown below). On October 31st, 2005, comedian Margaret Cho published a blog post expressing misgivings with the song for promoting racial stereotypes.

On June 8th, 2005, the book Who Owns Culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law^[1] by American lawyer Susan Scafidi was released. In May 2006, the annual feminist science fiction convention WisCon held a panel on cultural appropriation. The panel was subsequently met with criticism online, with several Livejournal users creating lengthy posts about the subject.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Spread

On January 15th, 2009, the political blog The Angry Black Woman^[10] published an article about cultural appropriation, which cited heated debates sparked by previous panels at WisCon. On April 29th, the Tumblr^[3] blog “My Culture is Not a Trend,” was launched, which highlights examples of perceived cultural appropriation on the Internet. On January 15th, 2010, the blog Native Appropriations^[8] was launched as “a forum for discussing representations of Native peoples.” On November 4th, 2012, the Tumblr blog “Cultural Appropriation on Tumblr”^[9] was launched. On April 14th, 2013, singer Selena Gomez delivered a live performance of her single “Come and Get It” while wearing an Indian-themed outfit and bindi on her forehead, which lead The Universal Society of Hinduism to demand an apology from the pop star (shown below, left). On March 4th, The Huffington Post^[12] published an article questioning whether the “Harlem Shake” meme could be considered an example of cultural appropriation. On November 24th, singer-songwriter Katy Perry received condemnation for performing her single “Unconditionally” while dressed as a Japanese geisha (shown below, right).

On April 23rd, 2014, the music video for the song “Hello Kitty” by Avril Lavigne was released, which drew criticism for scenes featuring the pop star eating Japanese foods and dancing in front of backup dancers wearing Hello Kitty costumes (shown below).

On May 25th, Redditor asgardian-princess submitted a screenshot of a Tumblr post accusing non-native Spanish speakers who speak the language as being guilty of cultural appropriation to the /r/TumblrInAction^[14] subreddit, where it garnered upwards of 3,900 votes (97% upvoted) and 670 comments prior to being archived.

On July 9th, Time^[11] published an op-ed titled “Dear White Gays: Stop Stealing Black Female Culture,” which denounced white gay men who emulate the social behavior of black women. On July 15th, The Daily Beast^[12] published an article titled “You Can’t ‘Steal’ a Culture: In Defense of Cultural Appropriation,” asserting that “the concept of cultural appropriation has morphed into a parody of the original idea.” On July 17th, YouTuber the1janitor uploaded a video arguing that online cultural appropriation shaming has been “taken to a ridiculous level” (shown below).

On August 5th, The Daily Dot^[11] published an article titled “5 Things White People Need to Learn About Cultural Appropriation.” On August 18th, the music video for the pop song “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift was released on YouTube, which drew criticism for its portrayal of Swift crawling around women performing a twerk dance (shown below).

On December 20th, Reddit _I_Have_No_Mouth submitted a screenshot of a Tumblr post complaining about “cultural dishes getting butchered by ‘innovative’ crackers” to the /r/TumblrInAction^[13] subreddit, where it gained over 4,700 votes (96% upvoted) and 480 comments in the first month. On December 29th, The Daily Beast^[15] published an article accusing rapper Iggy Azalea of appropriating black culture.

Related Memes

We’re a Culture, Not a Costume

We’re a Culture, Not a Costume is a poster ad campaign that features students of various ethnicities holding photos of people dressed in Halloween costumes that could be perceived as culturally insensitive. The campaign inspired a series of photoshop parodies depicting animals and fictional characters with photos of people wearing their respective Halloween costumes.

Search Interest

External References

Work in progress

About

Colin Wyckoff was a Garry’s Mod animator and is mostly known for his works such as Team Fabulous 2 and Elliot goes to school. He was popular in the game’s community and uploaded a variety of content, Such as “Elliot Goes to School,” “Team Fabulous 2,” and “Team Fortress 2: Moments with Heavy.” He died at age 20 due to leukemia, causing a giant reaction in the Garry’s mod community.

Origin

Not much is known about Colin’s early life. It is known that he created his Youtube account in April 2007. According to an interview(video will be provided), it has been said that him and his brother made the name by random, and he made his first video on September 14, 2007 named “True Crime: Criminal Justice Part 1.” The video did not end up as good as he thought it was, but he kept on going.

Spread

On June 25, 2009, Colin uploaded "Team Fortress 2: Moments with Heavy – Heavy orders an Xbox 360, which was his first video to reach more than 1,000,000 views. The video gained positive feedback and many likes, as well as getting him major popularity.

Later, in September 29, 2009, Colin made “Elliot Goes To School,” another popular series with also gained well-received feedback and recognition easily established his name into the Garry’s Mod community as well as the gaming community as a whole. His largest hit in his career was the earlier mentioned “Team Fabulous 2,”

Notable Examples

Death

On January 25, 2015, Kitty0706 “Lost his battle against Leukemia” at the age of 24-25. DasBoSchitt, in response, informed the public with his video:“A Fond Farewell to Kitty0706 (Colin Wyckoff).” This made many upset and left in dismay, and many wished to pay their respects towards the late Colin Wyckoff. As of now, Colin remains at peace, and may he be remembered as one of the most well-known and respected Garry’s Mod animators of all time.

External References

Work In Progress

About

Giantdad is a meme about a character build in Dark Souls that is popular among griefers, the Giantdad (sometimes referred to as Bass Cannon or the Legend) was initially created by the youtuber OnlyAfro. It has since then spawned many pieces of fan art, tribute videos, including a song by Ken Ashcorp. Giantdad is often associated with Mountain Dew, Doritos, and the hatred of casual gamers.
Work In Progress

Origin

Work In Progress

Spread

Work In Progress

Notable Examples

Work In Progress

Search Interest

External References

Work In Progress

[W.I.P. don’t complain until it’s actually done. I still need a good premise summary, I could use help]

About

Rozen Maiden is a Japanese manga and anime series first written by female manga author duo Peach-Pit and later adapted for TV by studio Nomad, followed later studio Deen. The series has garnered a significant fan following online, spawning a number of fan creations and memes, most notably Desu, which gained popularity through use in spam attacks on 4chan during 2006.

Premise

It’s about Rozen Maidens

History

Rozen Maiden first originated as a seinen manga series, written by female manga duo Peach-Pit, composed of authors Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, and serialized in Monthly Comic Birz from August 12, 2002 to May 30, 2007, running for 8 volumes. A second series, this time serialized in Weekly Young Jump, also ran from April 17, 2008 to January 23, 2014, running for 10 volumes. As well as the manga, Rozen Maiden also received a 12-episode anime adaptation by studio Nomad, airing from October 7 to December 23, 2004 , followed by 12 episode and 2 episode sequel series, Rozen Maiden: Träumend and Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre, which aired from October 20, 2005 to January 26, 2006 and December 22 to December 23, 2006 respectively. A fourth series, this time animated by Studio Deen, also known for their work on shows such as Hetalia and Higurashi, among others, was also created, running for 13 episodes from July 4 to September 26, 2013

Online Relevance

In North America, the Rozen Maiden anime is licensed by Sentai Filmworks, with the first, second and fourth seasons available for streaming on Crunchyroll^[1]. The series has gained a large online following on many sites, including on Tumblr^[2], Reddit^[3], 4chan’s /a/ (Anime and Manga) board^[4], Fanpop^[5], My Anime List^[6], and DeviantART^[7]. There are numerous sites that provide episodic information about the series, such as the _Rozen Maiden wiki^[8], TV Tropes^[9] and Anime News Network^[10]. In addition, the Rozen Maiden Facebook page also has over 22,000 likes^[11].

Fandom

The Rozen Maiden series has spawned a significant online fanbase since it’s creation, which has created much fanart and fanfiction. On the Japanese fanart site Pixiv, there are over 27,000 images tagged under “ローゼンメイデン”^[12], as well as over 5,000 videos on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga^[13]. On DeviantART, there are also over 23,000 images tagged related to the series^[14].

Related Sub-Memes

Desu

Desu is a Japanese word that is often used in spam attacks and thread derailments on forums and image by both fans and haters of anime alike, after the term’s use during the raids against 4chan’s /b/ random board by fellow 4chan board, /a/ anime and manga, in 2006 . The use of the word is usually accompanied by images of Rozen Maiden character Suiseiseki, due to her tendency to end sentences using the word within the series.

Rozen Maiden Ending Parodies

*Rozen Maiden Ending Parodies refers to a number of OP/ED parodies based around the ending credits theme to the third season of the Rozen Maiden anime, Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre. The parodies garnered popularity on Nico Nico Douga, with many users copying the style using hand drawn animation parodies featuring different characters from other anime series.

Niconico 涼宮ハルヒの鬱蝉ノ影／オーベルテューレＥＤNiconico 【手書きMAD】ひぐらし罰ゲームでローゼンED

Search Interest

External References

WORK IN PROGRESS.

About

Lolicon refers to a complex in where a person has a fetish for little girls. Being shotacon the same, but for little boys. Lolicon/Shotacon is often portrayed in japanese media, such as anime and manga / doujinshi.

History

The term “lolicon” comes from lolita complex, which originated from Vladimir Nabokov’s book Lolita, and was used for the first time around 1970’s.

About

Barack Obama watching tv is a photograph of president Barack Obama seated in front of a television and laughing towards someone offscreen. It has become a popular exploitable image online in which people edit what was displayed on the tv screen with various random images.

Origin

On August 28th 2008, Hillary Clinton held a speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado, in which she called on delegates to vote for her rival, then senator Barack Obama, for presidency. Broadcasted nationally, Obama followed the event on television while being invited in the home of supporters in Billing, Montana^[1]. Papparazzi photographs were taken by Emmanuel Dunand of the Agence France-Presse (owned by Getty Images). One of them shows the senator laughing and looking at someone offscreen (shown below).

Spread

As early as September 30th 2008, a parody version featuring a woman giving an hidden handjob to her partner on the tv screen was posted on blog “The Wiz of Odds”^[2]. In the following year, many foreign-speaking blogs featured their own parodies^[3][4].
On October 6th 2009, Youtube user JustinBieberOneLove uploaded a video in which Obama is seemingly watching singer Justin Bieber on tv (shown below). As of February 2015, the video has accumulated more than 200 000 views.

On March 21th 2010, a photoshop contest featuring the photograph was organized in a Newgrounds forum thread^[5], which has led to more than 4 000 views and 50 replies.
On January 16th 2012, another edit featuring deceased rapper Tupac Shakur was posted on blog Truth about Tupac^[6]. On January 20th 2015, Tumblr user afroforestry posted a parody picture featuring Tom Brady^[7] in reference to the Bradying trend.

Examples

I Posted It Again, LOL

A variation from the meme appeared on the web as the same photograph featuring the macro “I Posted It Again, LOL” underneath. It was mainly as a reaction image used with various pictures referencing “copypasta”: stories or recurring photographs posted on imageboards and forums in order to signify that a thread was actually a repost made by “trolls”:

Exploitable

External References

About

Social Justice Warrior is a pejorative label applied to bloggers, activists and commentators who are prone to engage in lengthy and hostile debates against others on a range of issues concerning social injustice, identity politics and political correctness. In contrast to the social justice blogosphere at large, the stereotype of a social justice warrior is distinguished by the use of overzealous and self-righteous rhetorics, as well as appealing to emotions over logic.

Origin

The earliest known use of the term “social justice warrior” as a pejorative comes from the Blogspot blog Social Justice Warriors: Do Not Engage,^[2] launched on November 6th, 2009, which identifies SJWs as people who “rage, mob and dox in the belief that promoting identitarianism will make a better world.”

Precursor

On September 27th, 2006, Urban Dictionary^[13] user Chi Z submitted an entry for the term “Keyboard Warrior,” defining it as an Internet user who expresses their anger by writing aggressive messages online.

Spread

On April 21st, 2011, Urban Dictionary^[1] user poopem submitted an entry for “social justice warrior,” defining it as a derogatory term for those who loudly engage in arguments on the Internet to earn favor in social justice circles.

“A pejorative term for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for the purpose of raising their own personal reputation. A social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly believe all that they say, or even care about the groups they are fighting on behalf of. They typically repeat points from whoever is the most popular blogger or commenter of the moment, hoping that they will “get SJ points” and become popular in return. They are very sure to adopt stances that are “correct” in their social circle."

On May 26th, the Tumblr^[11] blog “Fuck No Tumblr SJW” was launched, which describes itself as being “dedicated to exposing Tumblr’s most heinous social justice warriors.” On December 23rd, 2012, the “Social Justice Warriors of OKCupid” Tumblr^[12] blog was created, highlighting screenshots mocking the OKCupid dating profiles of perceived SJWs (shown below).

On November 18th, 2013, Something Awful Forums^[7] member Bo-Pepper submitted a thread titled “Hey What Does SJW Mean?” On March 3rd, 2014, the book How to Make a Social Justice Warrior^[6] by Will Shetterly was released, which outlines the history of social justice warriors on the Internet. On May 1st, YouTuber That Guy T uploaded a video titled “My beef with the (SJW) transgender community,” in which he discussed his arguments with the social justice community held on Twitter (shown below).

On June 29th, Redditor bluedude14 submitted a post titled “Social justice warriors and feminists ganged up on Richard Dawkins”, featuring a screenshot of a Twitter exchange between Dawkins and those who criticized him for listing “white guys” as his favorite poet, composer and scientist (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post garnered upwards of 4,500 votes (93% upvoted) and 1,400 comments on the /r/TumblrInAction^[3] subreddit.

Following the launch of GamerGate in August of that year, the usage of the label saw a significant spike as supporters of the online movement began referring to its critics as “social justice warriors.” On August 27th, YouTuber Jonathan Mann uploaded a video titled “Fuck Yes, I’m a Social Justice Warrior,” in which he sings a song proudly identifying himself as a social justice warrior (shown below).

On September 14th, YouTuber KasparovBBQ uploaded a monologue by YouTuber Internet Aristocrat explaining his opinion of “how SJW’s work” (shown below, left). On September 20th, YouTuber Half Hast Gaming uploaded a video titled “SJW vs John Carmack,” featuring a question from a audience member who asks OculusCTO John Carmack what the company is willing to do about their “gender gap” (shown below, right).

On December 31st, The Huffington Post^[5] published an op-ed written by LGBT activist Tile Wolfe titled “In Defense of the ‘Social Justice Warrior’,” which argued that SJWs should be respected as legitimate online activists. On January 9th, 2015, The Daily Beast published an article titled “How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech,” which asserted that “today’s threats to free speech are more likely to come from ‘social justice warriors’.” On January 23rd, a page titled “Social Justice Warrior” was created on the GamerGate wiki.^[10]

Related Memes

Check Your Privilege

“Check Your Privilege” is an online expression often associated with social justice warriors which is used to remind others that the body and life they are born into comes with specific privileges that do not apply to all arguments or situations. The phrase also suggests that when considering another person’s plight, one must acknowledge one’s own inherent privileges and put them aside in order to gain a better understanding of his or her situation.

Search Interest

External References

W.I.P.

About

Baby Insanity Wolf is an image macro series that uses a photo of a wolf cub howling paired with text signifying small acts of defiance, often perceptible only to the person carrying them out.

Origin

On June 20th, 2012, the baby wolf photo was posted to Baby Animal Zoo by a user named Zookeeper Joe^[3]. That same date, the photo accompanied a blog post by Zookeeper Joe entitled"Awooo! You’ll Howl For These Wolf Pups^[4]

Previous to that, a cropped version of the same photograph was uploaded as part of a post entitled “End Lethal Wolf Management” on the site BTC4Animals.com on June 20th, 2011.^[5]

Spread

As of the time of this post, one of the earliest iterations of the meme found on Reddit was posted on December 9th, 2013 by /u/PennStateBro under the title I am an avid supporter of the baby Insanity Wolf Movement (pictured below, left).^[1] It should be noted that although this is the earliest iteration using this photo, that post received no upvotes and no comments.

Another post on Reddit, made the same day, entitled “Baby Insanity Wolf doesn’t live by your rules”, was made by /u/SpaceToeJam, and received 2080 upvotes and 339 comments (pictured below, right)^[2].

External References

About

Inappropriate Audition Songs is a phrasal template which is often used to frame jokes on Tumblr about performing an improper song while auditioning for a role in a film or television show.

Origin

On February 13th, 2015, Tumblr user mienti uploaded a screenshot of a text message conversation asserting that “the next meme should be inappropriate audition songs,” followed by several examples using the phrasal template “I’m auditioning for the part of X and I’ll be singing Y” (shown below).Within one week, the post gained over 118,000 notes on the microblogging site.

Spread

On February 16th, Tumblr user gabeebert^[1] posted a joke about singing the 1965 baroque pop song “Yesterday” by The Beatles while auditioning for the Broadway musical Annie, receiving more than 12,000 notes in four days. On February 18th, Tumblr user someonewithacoolsupernaturalurl^[3] posted a collection of inappropriate audition song examples (shown below). Within 48 hours, the post gathered upwards of 2,400 notes.

On the following day, Tumblr user norsass^[5] posted a joke about auditioning as the creator of the meme while performing the 2007 R&B song “Apologize” by Timbaland, gaining over 71,000 notes in 24 hours (shown below). On February 20th, Imgur^[4] user wellthisjustgotinteresting created an image gallery containing screenshots of notable examples of the Tumblr meme.

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

About

Listen here you little shit, sometimes seen as its shorthand equivalent Listen here U lil shit, is a slang used as a remark towards someone, either to correct or to scold them for what they said. Its usage in comments was further coupled with various pictures featuring angry-looking people raising or pointing the finger. The meme gained the most of its popularity online when it involved a peculiar snapshot of actor Matt Smith as The Doctor from the Dr Who franchise.

Origin

The origin of the phrase on internet is unknown.
One of its earliest mentions can be found in a November 6th 2011 blog article from Ship In The Night^[1] dealing with the economical issues faced by Greece. One of the photographs shows German chancellor Angela Merkel with, underneath, a fabricated quote that reads:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel moments before she flipped “das birdie” at the Greek citizenry. "Listen here you little shit of a country […].

(bold added for emphasis)

Another example can be found on the NeoGAF forum in a 2012 post by user Satch, reacting to the comment of another user^[2].
The catchphrase was first coupled with a picture on website SomeEcards on december 14th 2012^[3] (shown below).

Spread

[wip]
Beginning in the late 2012, various examples of the catchphrase could be found on Deviant Art^[4].
It also found itself on imgur in 2014, as titles for animated gifs with animals in them. One showed an elephant scolding an ostrich^[5], which gained over 430 000 views and 5 100 upvotes in the following 7 months. The one featured a scene between two gorillas^[6], which gained over 810 000 views and 4 800 upvotes in the following 11 months.

Various Examples

Dr. Who Variation

In April 2013, a thread was made in the r/pics sub-reddit about the Goverment Shutdown event. On April 8th, redditor minipump posted a less than flattering screenshot from the Dr Who’s 11th season featuring The Doctor (played by Matt Smith) making a face with his eyes half closed and his finger raised, couple with the comment “LISTENHEREYOULITTLESHIT”^[7] (shown below, left). That same year, another user made a macro of the image, featuring the shorthand phrase “Listen here U lil shit” (shown below, right).

They led to a slew of parodies involving that character.

Search

External References

About

Kim Jong Un Looking Through Binoculars is a series of combined GIFs featuring footage of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un looking through a pair of binoculars and seeing a variety of humorous scenes in the distance.

Origin

On March 8th, 2013, The Telegraph YouTube channel uploaded video of Jong Un inspecting a North Korean border base, during which the North Korean dictator is shown peering through a pair of binoculars (shown below).

Spread

On March 31st, 2013, Redditor Deadr4t uploaded an edited animated GIF of Jong Un viewing the Denied Encino ManGIF while looking through the binoculars to the /r/funny^[2] subreddit, where it gained over 2,200 votes (88% upvoted) and 100 comments prior to being archived (shown below, left). On April 10th, Redditor minorminer69er submitted a GIF in which Jong Un is pranked with black shoe polish by Barack Obama to /r/funny^[3] (shown below, right). Before the post was archived, it gathered more than 2,500 votes (91% upvoted) and 300 comments.

The same day, CollegeHumor^[1] published a compilation of 10 notable examples from the series. On May 5th, YouTuber FudgeMan654 uploaded a clip of comedian Russell Howard from the BBC 3 television program Good News presenting a clip featuring Jong Un viewing a man thrusting his pelvis while wearing a bar attached to his undergarment (shown below).

On June 27th, 2014, Redditor KEerikkadan91 submitted an animated GIF on Jong Un watching a failed cartoon missile launch to /r/funny,^[4] where it received upwards of 3,500 votes (91% upvoted) and 430 comments prior to being archived (shown below, left). On January 9th, 2015, Redditor hellmelee posted a combined GIF in which Jong Un views Obama edited over the satirical rapper character Supa Hot Fire (shown below, right). In the first month, the post gained over 2,500 votes (89% upvoted) and 40 comments on the /r/Murica subreddit.^[5]

Search Interest

External References

About

Best Korea is a term used to refer to North Korea, assuming that it’s the better of both Koreas.

Origin

One of the earliest use of the term is on a YouTube video called “North Korea is Best Korea”, uploaded by user otuzniak on June 28, 2008. The video contains scenes from North Korean militar parades, and images of Kim Jon-Il. As February 21, 2015, the video has over 115,000 views.

Spread

On January 12, 2009, a post on a /jp/ thread about a country ranking by IQ used the catchphrase “North Korea is Best Korea”.^[2]

On 2010, the catchphrase was used as name of the Project North Korea is Best Korea, where 4chan users rig an online poll to select North Korea as a destination in Justin Bieber’s “My World” tour.

North Korea is Best Korea

North Korea is Best Korea is a catchphrase normally related to a propaganda-styled poster with Kim Jon-Il on a meadow. The catchphrase has become a snowclone (X Y is the best Y)

Various Examples

Search Interest

External links

About

“You And Me” Edits are parodic edits of a page from the webcomic Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques, which feature alternate outcomes during a scene of intimacy where a character undresses herself in front of someone else.

Origin

Questionable Content is a webcomic that began in 2003 by artist Jeph Jacques, which follows the life of the main character Marten Reed.^[1] In 2012, the character Claire Augustus, a young, pre-operative transgender woman, was added to the cast, and later became Reed’s girlfriend in the comic.^[2] On February 5, 2015, Jacques published a page of the comic which featured the two in a scene of intimacy.^[3]

Spread

“You And Me” received criticism for what was seen as forced attempt at evoking emotion. The same day the page was published, it was posted in a Questionable Content thread on 4chan’s /co/ board.^[4] Users proceeded to make edits to the comic in a similar fashion to the infamous CADbortion strip from Ctrl+Alt+Del. Many of the posts were later compiled and posted onto the subreddit r/4chan.^[5]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

References

About

Matching Icons (often followed by ‘for you and the bae’ or ‘for you and the friends’) is a phrase often used to caption two or more images that humorously complement each other.

Origin

The earliest known instance of matching icons is on June 2013. Tumblr user Zovii uploaded two icons of Kaworu Nagisa and Shinji Ikari from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion for shipping purposes. The post garnered 493 notes^[3][4].

Spread

The meme began spreading at Tumblr. The tag #matching-icons on Tumblr is highly active^[1]. Furthermore, various instances of the meme can be seen on Twitter^[2]. Matching Icons have also received recognition and their own iterations at Deviantart, yielding 13,621 results^[5].

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References

WIP.

About

Le Cut Inside Man is a nickname given to the Dutch player Arjen Robben during the 2014 Soccer World Cup.

Search Interest

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External Links

Editor’s note: This article is a major W.I.P. Feel free to request editorship

About

The Fesh Pince Of Blair is a YouTube Poop (YTP), based on the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air series. Ever since its first upload, it has spawned countless amounts of quotes, images, and a sequel.

Origin

On Dec 5, 2011, Kroboconjuctions ^[1] uploaded a video titled “The Fesh Pince Of Blair.” However, the video was reuploaded on October 22, 2013. As of February 23, 2015, the video has garnered about 300,000 views and 6,115 likes.

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On October 27, 2014, Kroboconjuctions uploaded a sequel titled “The Fesh Pince of Blair 2: Uncle Phil Yiffs in Heaven Again”.

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External References

^[1]Youtube – Kroboconjuctions

About

Lady Gaga’s Dishwashing Gloves refers to a pair of red leather gloves worn by singer-songwriter Lady Gaga at the 87th Academy Awards held in late February 2015, which inspired a photoshop meme on Twitter poking fun at the accessory for resembling a pair of rubber dishwashing gloves.

Origin

On February 22nd, 2015, Lady Gaga walked the red carpet at the 87th Academy Awards while wearing a white Azzedine Alaia dress and red leather gloves (shown below, left). Shortly after, Twitter user Jon-Michael Poff^[1] tweeted a photograph of a pair of red grill gloves juxtaposed next to a picture of Lady Gaga on the red carpet, gaining over 450 retweets and 380 favorites in the first 24 hours (shown below, right).

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That evening, other Twitter users began posting photoshopped images of Gaga appearing as if she were washing dishes in a kitchen. Meanwhile, Twitter user Nate Gilbert^[7] tweeted an illustration of the comic book super hero Captain America next to a photo of Lady Gaga on the red carpet, comparing the costumed crime fighter’s signature red gloves to those worn by the pop star (shown below, left). Less than an hour later, the @gagadaily^[8] Twitter feed highlighted several notable examples of the photoshop meme (shown below, right). In less than 24 hours, the tweets gained more than 320 and 1,000 retweets respectively.

Also on February 22nd, the hashtag #LadyGagaOscars2015^[10] began trending worldwide on Twitter.^[9] In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online reaction to the gloves, including LAist,^[2] Mashable,^[3] Cosmopolitan,^[4] Bustle^[5] and Daily Mail.^[6]

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About

*Adele Dazeem" is a moniker associated with Idina Menzel, the American singer-songwriter well known for her voice acting role as Elsa in the 2013 Disney animated film Frozen and its critically acclaimed theme song “Let It Go”, which stemmed from a mispronunciation of her name by actor John Travolta during the introduction of her live performance of “Let It Go” at the 86th Academy Award Ceremony in February 2014.

Origin

On March 2nd, 2014, Idina Menzel made an on-stage appearance at the 86th Annual Academy Awards ceremony for a live performance of the song, with an introductory remark from actor John Travolta who ended up severely mispronouncing Menzel’s name as “Adele Dazeem.”

On Twitter, Travolta’s fluke led to an immediate flood of double takes and jokes at the actor’s expense and quickly took over the live-tweeted gossips about the ceremony.^[24] At 11:19 p.m. (ET), the first parody Twitter account @AdelaDazeem^[23] began tweeting from the perspective of Menzel (shown below)and by the end of the night, “Adele Dazeem” and “Adele Dazim” were trending on Twitter.^[26] As of March 5th, the account has over 20,000 followers.

On March 3rd, Buzzfeed^[27] published a post titled “If John Travolta Had To Pronounce Everyone’s Name At The Oscars” which included celebrities’ names butchered in a similar style, for example “Brat Spit” for “Brad Pit," and Slate^[29] unveiled “The Adele Dazeem Name Generator” that can scramble people’s names in the similar fashion of Travolta’s mistake. On March 4th, one of Menzel’s castmates for the Broadway musical If/Then, Janet Krupin, shared an Instagram of a PlayBill insert for the show that said Menzel’s role would be played by “Adele Dazeem”.^[28]

The same day, Travolta released a statement^[25] about his mistake, saying:

“I’ve been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … what would Idina Menzel say, She’d say, Let it go, let it go! Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy Frozen took home two Oscars Sunday night!”

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