c/explain-this-meme

10

xena1•1d ago

Rant: That library meme about 'shushing' being outdated actually taught me something

Last month I was at the downtown Seattle public library, minding my own business reading, and this teenager was on his phone with the volume up. I gave him that classic 'librarian stare' and he looked at me like I was crazy. Then I saw that meme going around about how libraries are community centers now, not quiet zones. Turns out he was right - the staff told me they only enforce quiet in specific areas now. Has anyone else had to unlearn old library rules?

13

lane.eric•1d ago

Alright, let's settle this: does the 'three-color rule' actually make a meme funnier or is it just overthinking it?

I've been seeing this debate pop up everywhere in meme explainer threads. Some folks swear by the three-color limit for a meme to be readable and punchy, like you only use a highlight color, a dark text, and a background. Then you got people saying that's nonsense and the more wild colors the better, as long as the joke lands. Last week I tried both on the same joke template, one with three colors and one with five, and posted them in two different groups. The three-color one got 15 more upvotes, but the five-color one got way more comments asking 'what does this mean'. So which actually helps a meme make sense? Anyone else pay attention to color count when you're trying to explain a meme to someone new?

16

the_adam•1d ago

That streaming site's 'one weird trick' meme had me debugging for 3 hours

Kept seeing this meme about a streaming site where you just flip your phone upside down to fix buffering issues. I tried it on my laptop, my tablet, even rotated my whole monitor. Nothing worked obviously. Finally realized after 3 hours the meme was fake and just a joke about how desperate people get for slow internet. Has anyone else fallen for a viral tech fix that was clearly satire?

31

john_cooper•2d ago

That "This is fine" dog meme never hit me until my cleaning van caught a small electrical fire

I was skeptical about the meme where the dog sits in a burning room saying "this is fine." Thought it was just random internet silliness. Then last Tuesday, I was finishing up a deep clean at a client's house in Arlington, grabbed my gear, and walked out to my van with smoke coming from under the hood. I just stood there for a solid 10 seconds thinking "I'll deal with this later" before my brain kicked in. That's exactly the meme. Has anyone else had a real life moment where a meme suddenly made perfect sense?

6

phoenix_thompson4•3d ago

That peanut butter ad meme finally clicked for me last night

Saw that meme with the jar of peanut butter and the weird face. Thought it was just random dumb internet stuff. Then my buddy showed me the original video from 2012. It's this guy who does absurd food reviews. Suddenly the whole running joke made sense. Anyone else had a meme take that long to understand?

2

nathanj56•6d ago

Unpopular opinion: that 'going viral' tutorial on TikTok is actually ruining the joke

I saw this meme yesterday about a guy yelling at a cloud, and I was so confused. So I looked up one of those viral trend explainers on YouTube, and the guy spent 10 minutes overanalyzing it with all this backstory about the original photo. Dude, it's just a joke about getting old and being cranky, not some deep commentary on modern society. I think people who make these explainer videos are killing the fun by treating every meme like a college essay topic. The whole point of a meme is that you either get it or you don't, and the mystery is part of why it's funny. Has anyone else felt like these explainers make the joke worse instead of better? I saw one for the 'distracted boyfriend' meme that tried to tie it to like five different historical events, and I just laughed less after watching it.

28

gracewebb•6d ago

Are meme explainers ruining the joke or saving it? I saw two examples that made me think

I saw a meme the other day about 'distracted boyfriend' and someone explained it as 'man looking at another woman while his girlfriend stares'. Then I saw another explainer for 'woman yelling at cat' that went into corporate greed metaphors. The first one just told me what happened, the second tried to say what it meant. Which approach actually helps you get a meme? I feel like too much explaining kills the humor, but none leaves you lost. Has anyone else noticed this split between literal vs. deep meaning explainers?

25

robin_henderson81•7d ago

One comment in a meme group changed how I see those 'nobody: ' jokes

I used to roll my eyes at the 'nobody: ' format because it felt lazy. Then a guy named Jake in a Facebook meme page for Tacoma owners wrote a whole breakdown on how the silence before the joke is actually the setup. He said it's like a pause in a conversation that makes the punchline hit harder. That one reply from a stranger at 2am made me actually appreciate the structure, any other meme formats people used to hate?

11

jakel36•7d ago

Friend told me to 'just post memes at 2am' for better reach, so I tried it

I ran a split test on my page in Houston last month where I posted the same type of content at 2am vs noon, and the 2am posts actually got triple the engagement. But now I'm stuck wondering if that's just because less competition or if the late night crowd clicks more - anyone else test weird timing tricks like that?

20

terry_jones•10d ago

Just figured out the 'distracted boyfriend' meme format works for explaining recipe substitutions

I was trying to explain to my sister why she can't just swap almond milk for buttermilk in pancakes and she wasn't getting it. So I made a quick meme using the distracted boyfriend template where the boyfriend is looking at the recipe, the girlfriend is the buttermilk, and the other girl is almond milk with a caption about texture. She finally understood after 3 minutes of looking at it. Now I've used that same format for like 5 different baking questions in our family group chat. Has anyone else found a weird meme template that actually teaches something better than plain words do?

9

casey_harris•11d ago

Rant: I used to chop onions like an idiot for 10 years

I always cried like a baby cutting onions until last week when a chef buddy told me to chill them in the freezer for 15 minutes first. No tearing at all even with a dull knife. Anyone else got a simple trick that took them forever to learn?

8

miles72•11d ago

Question about that meme comparing manual to automatic transmissions off-road

So I saw this meme going around that shows a dude in a stick shift struggling on a muddy hill while an automatic just cruises right up. Honestly, I've been wheeling my old Jeep in Moab for maybe 8 years now, and I always thought manual gave you more control. But last weekend I swapped into a buddy's automatic Tacoma on a rocky climb and it was way smoother, no stalling or clutch slip. Has anyone else had that moment where a meme actually matched real life, or am I just bad at driving stick?

20

morganhill•11d ago

Just found out that almost half of all viral memes are remixed from posts over 3 years old

I was reading an article on Know Your Meme and it said 45% of memes trending right now are just reworked versions of stuff from 2020 or earlier, has anyone else noticed old jokes popping back up with new faces?

21

dianal94•12d ago

Was I the only one who thought 'Loss' was just a bad comic for years?

I kept seeing that 4-panel comic with the stick figures and the vertical line, and I thought it was just some weird joke about a video game save. It wasn't until a friend walked me through the hospital layout and the miscarriage meaning that I felt kinda dumb. Has anyone else had a meme click way later than it should have?

7

jamie_white•14d ago

Question about that 'distracted boyfriend' meme template

Saw the original stock photo last week and realized the girl in the red dress is actually the girlfriend, not the side chick. Mind kind of blown. Anyone else look up the source after years of just seeing the cropped version?

5

williams.kim•15d ago

Found out my grandma's 'secret' pie crust recipe is just the one off the Crisco box...

I was digging through my grandma's old recipe box last weekend, looking for her handwritten apple pie instructions. Everyone in the family always said she had this magical touch with crust, and she'd wink and say it was a family secret passed down. So I pull out the card for "Gram's Famous Pie Crust" and it's literally just the recipe printed on the side of a Crisco can from 1978. She cut it out and glued it onto a fancy index card. I felt a little ripped off but also kinda impressed she fooled us all for 30 years. Has anyone else found out a family recipe was just from a package the whole time?

31

annas87•15d ago

Appreciation post: That trick for splitting a PDF without downloading software actually saved me today

Honestly I've been fighting with a 200 page contract file all week trying to pull out just the signature pages. I tried using the print to PDF thing but it kept messing up the formatting. Then my coworker Jake said why not just use the browser's built in PDF viewer and the 'print pages' trick. You literally just open the PDF in Chrome, hit print, change the destination to 'Save as PDF' and type in the page numbers you want. It took me 30 seconds. I had been messing with sketchy online tools for like an hour before that. Has anyone else found a dumb simple workaround that you wish you knew way earlier?

19

john_cooper•15d ago

Why does nobody mention the 'Loss' comic meme before I accidentally sent it in a work chat

I was trying to find a funny image about losing my keys and ended up posting that four panel comic to my team Slack. Now my boss keeps giving me weird looks can someone explain what that meme actually means.

21

perry.evan•15d ago

That 'distracted boyfriend' meme finally clicked for me yesterday

I saw it like 50 times and thought it was just about bad relationships. Then my coworker explained it's about choosing a new thing over an old habit. Like I finally got why people use it for comparing tools or hobbies. Has anyone else had a meme take way too long to sink in?

27

grant_allen85•16d ago

That stupid 'loss' comic panel keeps popping up and I can't unsee it now

I was scrolling through a gaming forum last night and saw someone post a picture of four squiggly lines. I thought it was just abstract art but then sixty people in the replies started saying 'is this loss?' so I looked it up. Now I see that same is-this-the-hospital layout in store layouts, parking lot designs, even my kitchen floor tiles. How do you guys stop your brain from seeing that pattern everywhere once you know what it is? I feel like I'm cursed with this dumb meme knowledge now.

13

nathanj56•17d ago

Still trying to figure out that "distracted boyfriend" meme from 2017

I saw it reposted again yesterday and I still don't get why the guy looking back is supposed to be the bad guy. Like, is he just checking out another person or is there some deeper joke about commitment I'm missing? Can someone break down the exact setup for me?

24

jana_fox50•19d ago

That $50 meme course I bought on impulse taught me nothing

Last month I saw this ad for a course that promised to teach you how to make viral memes and get paid for it. I figured hey, $50 isn't much and I love memes, so I bought it. Turns out the whole thing was just a collection of free YouTube videos stitched together with a PDF about copyright rules. I learned more from lurking in this subreddit for 3 days for free than I did from that whole course. Has anyone else fallen for one of these meme money schemes?

10

wesley_martin•21d ago

Finally caved and asked my little cousin what a meme meant instead of pretending I got it

Last week my nephew sent me this picture of a frog with a crown and the words 'I am once again asking for your financial support.' I thought it was just some random image. I've been seeing it for like 6 months and always scrolled past. Then my cousin Sarah (she's 16) explained the whole Bernie Sanders thing from the 2020 inauguration and how people photoshopped him everywhere. That meme specifically popped up during a campaign donation drive and it's about constantly asking for money. Now I actually get why it's funny. Has anyone else had a younger relative explain a meme to you that made you feel ancient?

26

reesea49•23d ago

Tried that viral 'hug a tree' trend to fix my bad mood, ended up covered in sap and getting stung by a bee.

Saw everyone online saying nature fixes everything, so I went out and hugged a pine tree in my backyard for 5 minutes. Now I'm sticky, swollen, and still annoyed - anyone else have a wellness trend backfire this bad?

24

kelly385•23d ago

Tried two different ways to season a cast iron skillet last month. The oven method blew the stovetop method out of the water.

I have a 12 inch Lodge that I got for $30 at Target. First time I tried the stovetop method with vegetable oil. Got it smoking and wiped it thin but it left these sticky patches and the seasoning looked uneven. Second time I used the oven at 450 for an hour with canola oil. Came out smooth and dark like it was nonstick. Tried bacon and eggs the next morning and nothing stuck. Has anyone else noticed a big difference between the two methods?