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January: A Humble Beginning
1. The year started off with jokes about Tide-Pods, which are highly toxic and not meant to be ingested, being “forbidden fruit” and “dangerous Gushers.” The youths of today made viral photos of different ways to “prepare” this laundry-adjacent dish. Overall, it was a weird first meme to begin the new year.
2. Next up in our debut month of 2018 is the “Change My Mind” sign, which originally came about by a guy named Steve Crowder—a man who was visiting campuses with a table and sign that read, “Male privilege is a myth. Change my mind” accompanied with a smug look on his face and crossed legs with a coffee mug. Memers did what they do best here and began photoshopping absurd and hysterical assertions on top of Crowder’s original message to get things like this…
3. This last one I’ve chosen for 2018 cracked me up, and its assumptions about “What Your Child is Really Texting About.” It’s supposed to allude to aloof parents and just wild acronyms for seemingly innocuous things which teens use to get away with sneaky behavior. Some of my favorite examples include:
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February: Two Queens: Kylie Jenner and JVN
1. One of the highly contested pregnancy announcements came from social media mogul, Kylie Jenner. While most of her pregnancy was kept under wraps, snippets of interviews were released, and an iconic meme was born where Kylie said, “Next thing I knew, I was pregnant.” People ran with this quote and added their own captions about boyfriends doing kind gestures, when someone sends dog photos, and other mundane activities that would turn you into a mother seemingly overnight.
2. JVN’s “Can you believe?” moment from an episode of Queer Eye is so relatable to all instances in life that stem from surprise or disbelief… although he is basically a walking catchphrase machine.
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March: An Onslaught of Spongebob Squarepants
1. Now typically, Patrick Star is anything but malicious in the beloved cartoon. However, a screencap of “Evil Patrick” looking vengeful with a maniacal look in his eyes surfaced around March of 2018 and inspired people to add some pretty hilarious captions… My favorite caption? “Putting soap into dishes at the sink so they can “soak” knowing full well it’s just an excuse to be lazy.”
2. The phrase, “Imitation is the highest form of flattery” is commonplace, but what’s to be said about comparison? In my second favorite meme for March (which was also Spongebob-related), two famous restaurants in the show are pitted against each other to compare and contrast popular items, most notably music streaming services, fast food, Disney movies, and the list continues. And so, the Krusty Krab vs Chum Bucket meme is born!
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April: Comparisons and Comedic Confusion
1. When someone loves you, they should be able to love (or at least appreciate) you in your different forms. And someone who is unwilling to love you in less than desirable circumstances shouldn’t be able to only chase you when you’re looking your best, right? Well, with the birth of the “If you don’t love me at my X, you don’t deserve me at my Y,” people are commending their less-than-ideal forms but highlighting that people should RESPECT you at pitfalls if they wanna be by your side during the peaks as well.
2. Some people may wonder how this meme came to fruition and why it’s one of my favorite memes of this year… and the answer? It’s applicable to so many different scenarios. It works when you’re confused, frustrated, etc. “Squinting Woman” is an unsung hero of this viral community, at least to me(me).
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May: Laughter Worthy of a Throne
1. This meme was fit for a princess, and that’s exactly where it stemmed from. At one of the most pivotal parts of the highly-televised royal wedding, Meghan Markle’s veil was lifted from her face to look at her swoon-worthy fiance, very soon-to-be-husband. Of course the Internet ran with it and made it go viral with captions like, “Me watching my pizza rolls in the microwave,” “Me looking at boys and writing fictional love stories in my head,” etc.
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June: Leading the Ranks
1. I don’t know about you, but some of my favorite articles to read are ranks; it can be TV shows, movies, candies, and many other categories. This summer meme surfaced and pretended that things like that could no longer be ranked, only to go on and put their personal opinion at the #1 spot. One of my favorite examples is the picture below. Funnily enough, it “Ranked” pretty high on this list of my own.
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July: Where “Bodak Yellow” Performer and Bluetooth Speaker Combine
1. This summer, the voice-activated system got lots of action with videos made of celebrities doing voice-overs for ads and Amazon’s Alexa. Justin Bieber’s summer jam, “Despacito” also came out; so now when something sad happens, you can say, “Alexa, play “Despacito” and be semi-up-to-date with the meme trends. You can do it with all different songs and emotions, but this was the first one that gained some good virality.
2. Cardi B has had QUITE the 2018, but one of my favorite parts was when she tweeted this sassy-as-heck kid picture. This prompted so many funny captions! Sassy Cardi B, this meme is “Money”!
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August: Celebrity (Birth) Certificate
1. I’m sure if I asked you to name a couple celebrities who gained popularity for monikers other than what is on their birth certificate, there would be a flood of names: Lady Gaga, Ice-T, Post Malone. The “Celebrity Full Name” funnily synthesizes what these celebs’ name could really stand for… hysterical.
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September: A “Starr” is Born
1. The beauty community on YouTube had quite a year as well, and Jeffree Star was the center of more than a couple scandals, although he came out unscathed. He tweeted a photo of him veiled behind a curtain with the caption, “Now you know,” but Internet users only know this: how to instantly meme it! Much like the Meghan Markle veil meme, captions were a-flowing and things were a-knowing.
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October: Weird Flex, But Okay
1. I LOVE THIS ONE. Basically it derived from people bragging about things that aren’t typically what you’d say to elicit that type of reaction. Me being a lady with an extensive lexicon, though, the picture below is just how the title of the meme would diverge into more complex verbiage.
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November: thank u, next (iconic meme)
1. Ariana Grande’s ICONIC song and music video for “thank u, next” came out this month and people took the line “One taught me love, one taught me patience, one taught me pain” and found funny comparisons for people in their lives, foods, and fictional characters who personally affected them like Ari described in the song.
2. The “don’t say it” meme just publicly highlights how our internal monologues are more similar than we think, and it’s hilarious! One of my favorite examples is pictured below.
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December: Greener Pastures
1. Our king, Knickers the Cow, was discovered and reported on in December. Honestly, I don’t really know how to describe this meme or sizable phenomenon; he’s large, he’s in charge, and I just love him.
Well, fellow indulgers of Internet sensations, there’s my favorite 2018 meme-ories! I hope 2019 is full of more viral laughs.
Sources
cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18