‘Tis better to have memed and lost than never to have memed at all…
These days, memes come and go about as fast as we’re clearing out our Spotify playlists after watching a few recent documentaries (I don’t believe we can fly anymore). But that doesn’t mean we can’t hop in the DeLorean and take a meme trip back in time to ‘member the memes of yesterday.
Hop in.
Yeah, so as it turns out, the future isn’t as cool as Marty McFly made it out to be … but we do still have dank memes. Let us provide a highlight of the best you might’ve forgotten about while you were too busy questionably laughing at R. Kelly memes.
Karate Kyle
Originally stemming from the advice animal series, Karate Kyle is a meme in the same vein as PTSD Clarinet Boy. Consisting of the iconic ’90s portrait style of photography where the subject’s head is enlarged around a wider shot of their body, captions include violent actions “Karate Kyle” did because he was bullied for some specific reason. The first example was posted back in 2011 to James Von Helton’s Facebook page. From there, 4chan and Reddit soon discovered it and expanded upon the original style and added even more characters.
Original here:
Some highlights from the meme’s glory days:
Confused Mr. Krabs (Motion Blur)
Motion blur filters became a meme phenom that has existed for years now, reemerging from the depths of the great meme graveyard periodically, though never as strong as when it first took off. This style consists of a character, image or meme with a radial blur around the subject used to convey a sense of anxiety, rage or general uneasiness. As early as 2004, this style was used in a variation of the IGN Reaction Guys meme. It eventually spread to SpongeBob memes and thus, Confused Mr. Krabs was born.
Le Original:
The aftermath it spawned:
That guy in the jungle that says “okeh.”
For those of you “cultured” memers, this one is officially known as the “#OkayMovement” and it all started back at the very end of 2014, when Lilianna Hogan posted a Vine clip of her on vacation at the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
This is the original for reference:
… and the subsequent movement that it sparked, wrapped into a little compilation video below:
That Wasn’t Very Cash Money of You
This catchphrase began with a drawing of the character “Sayaka Miki” from “Puella Magi Madoka Magica.” Essentially, “cash money” equals “cool” and the original comic of Miki wearing sunglasses was then used on several other images of characters wearing sunglasses, using the quote in various ways.
The original:
Here’s a few choice ones:
“I can’t believe you’ve done this.”
The meme “I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This” comes from a YouTube video of an Englishman getting punched in the face. His iconic line, “Ah fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this!” has now been cemented in internet history and is perhaps the most “British” response to getting socked in the head.
This is the original from 2007, when PWee28 posted the video:
Since then, it’s been referenced all over the place and has a plethora of hilarious edits/remixes:
Bed Intruder
Truly a classic, the “Bed Intruder” comes from a news interview with Kevin Antoine Dodson (a Huntsville, Alabama resident). In the clip, Dodson is being asked about the search for a man who broke into his home and attempted to assault one of his sisters.
The original interview:
… and who could forget when this meme turned into the hottest track of the summer? This song is made even better by the fact that Schmoyoho (who made the remix) gave the money to Dodson … wholesome af.
The remix:
Nope! Chuck Testa
This iconic catchphrase spread like the plague to all corners of the internet in quick fashion. “Nope! Chuck Testa” began when Chuck Testa (a taxidermist from Ojai Valley, California) released an advertisement for his business. Relatively unknown for awhile, the video made its way to Reddit in 2011 and quickly gained traction. That famous post ultimately reached the front page, garnering over 12,000 upvotes in just 24 hours.
Here’s the original commercial that started it all:
… and the glorious result:
Zach Sweat 