Our 9 Favorite Memes of 2014, From Kermit to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯




Underwire






Luigi Death Stare

When Mario Kart 8 came out in February, noticed almost immediately that Luigi was a discomfiting presence in multiplayer races, thanks to whatever the racing-game equivalent of Resting Bitch Face is. (Expand the gallery to read all the full-length reasons these memes were our favorites.) Screengrab/YouTube



Luigi Death Stare

Why We Loved It:

When


Mario Kart 8

came out in February, people finally bought a Nintendo Wii U. (


Seriously

.) But they also noticed almost immediately that Luigi was a discomfiting presence in multiplayer races, thanks to whatever the racing-game equivalent of Resting Bitch Face is. Gamers immediately dubbed it the "Luigi Death Stare," and edited gameplay clips together for maximum lulz, generally to Chamillionaire’s


"Ridin’ Dirty"

. It spread so quickly that even local news stations


got in on the act

, and not in


that "Harlem Shake way"

they did last year. —


Peter Rubin

Screengrab/YouTube



¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ASCII design had a big year on Twitter, but nothing compared to the emoticon supremacy of Shruggie, aka the smugshrug. Shruggie is the spirit animal of the Internet. Just ask Google: Searches of the term "no fucks to give" are up 100 percent from April 2012. WIRED



¯_(ツ)_/¯

Why We Loved It:

ASCII design had a big year on Twitter. In an age of hyper-specific emojis giving animated embodiment to every


state of mind

from Flamenco dancing ("Get TURNT!") to fried shrimp (what


doesn’t

it mean?), many in the Twittersphere decided they were just, well, over it. Users dismissed technicolor facial expressions in favor of keystroke characters deployed to affect maximum passive aggression and glibness. In other words, digital natives finally embraced icons that reflect their bored superiority.


Sign Bunny

was a mouthpiece for our most inane declarations. The flamboyant little


"1, 2, 3" man

injected our jokes with extra sass and elevated pomp. And the suicide


stick figure

was the final word on any subject we decided had run its course. (Looking your way, "bae.") But nothing—


nothing

—compared to the emoticon supremacy of Shruggie, aka the smugshrug. Shruggie is the spirit animal of the Internet. And if the Internet is us,


we

are the Shruggie. Just ask Google: Searches of


the term

"no fucks to give" are up 100 percent from April 2012. We are a collective that


literally cannot even

with language or sincerity anymore, and what says IDGAF better than this simple gesture ¯_(ツ)_/¯? We saw Ferguson burn, Ebola break out (again), a probe land on the surface of a comet, a winter olympics laden with homophobia, the rise of ISIS and an historic thaw in relations between the US and Cuba. But through it all, we managed to just ¯_(ツ)_/¯ it off. Congratulations, Internet. You really out-smugged yourself this year.


—Jordan Crucchiola

WIRED



Awkward Moment Seal

Everyone knows the feeling of finding yourself trapped in an awkward social situation. There is no escape from these moments, only silent endurance, for to acknowledge your shame is to magnify it a hundred-fold. But be strong, for the seal knows your pain.



Awkward Moment Seal

Why We Loved It:

Everyone knows the feeling of finding yourself trapped in an awkward social situation. Perhaps you're watching a movie with your parents and a steamy sex scene crops up unexpectedly; perhaps you wave back at someone who greets you—only to realize they were looking at someone else. There is no escape from these moments, only silent endurance, for to acknowledge your shame is to magnify it a hundred-fold. But be strong, for


the seal knows your pain

. The seal feels it too. Look into his eyes and know that you are absolved, that you not alone, that you will never be alone again.


—Laura Hudson




Migos > Beatles

While the kids behind mushmouthed trap anthems like "Versace" and "Fight Night" have undeniably improved their lyrics, there was a certain glee in the poker-faced assertion that they were more talented than the Fab Four—and even more glee in maintaining said stance in the face of WHAT ZOMG THAT’S BLASPHEMY reactions from the less savvy corners of Twitter.



Migos > Beatles

Why We Loved It:

It was last year that Atlanta rap trio Migos first took the internet by storm thanks to


Versace"

(and to a lesser extent,


"Bando"

)—but it wasn’t until 2014 that they birthed a true meme. While the kids behind the mushmouthed trap anthems have undeniably improved their lyrics, there was a certain glee in the poker-faced assertion that they were more talented than the Fab Four—and even more glee in maintaining said stance in the face of WHAT ZOMG THAT’S BLASPHEMY reactions from the less savvy corners of Twitter. (As one provocateur


recently noted

, "it's tempting to bring the Migos > Beatles argument to Facebook, where it has not seen the light of day among white users.") Regardless of which group you ride for, though, one thing’s clear: they’re both at their best when they get the Reese’s Pieces treatment, as in this


"Jumpin’ Like Jordan"/"Here Comes the Sun" mashup

. —


Peter Rubin




"Actually, It’s About Ethics in Journalism"

Not only do we derive joy from mocking hateful, spineless Gamergate dirtbags who wish violence on other humans as punishment for seeking respect, we also enjoy turning your rallying cry into a textbook indicator that some very hilarious mansplaining is about to occur. Thanks for the LOLs this year, you guys (if not the basic human decency). Twitter



"Actually, It’s About Ethics in Journalism"

Why We Loved It:

Like #NotAllMen (we'll get to that one too), the #Actually hashtag was born out of the ludicrous and now iconic joke of an assertion that Gamergate—


the bitter online mishmash of misogynist hackers and plain old garden-variety sexist crybabies

that openly threatened women in the gaming community (as well as those who support them) with rape and murder for the crime of suggesting that games be more inclusive—is "


aaaaactually

about ethics in gaming journalism." Not only do we derive joy from mocking hateful, spineless dirtbags who wish violence on other humans as punishment for seeking respect, we also enjoy turning your rallying cry into a textbook indicator that some very hilarious mansplaining is about to occur. Thanks for the LOLs this year, you guys (if not the basic human decency).


—Devon Maloney

Twitter



Too Many Cooks

Was it a meme? A show? An exercise in form-breaking existential despair? The smartest, most deranged piece of comedy we’d seen in some time? Yes to all. Adult Swim



Too Many Cooks

Why We Loved It:

Was it a meme? A show? An exercise in form-breaking existential despair? The smartest, most deranged piece of comedy we’d seen in some time? Yes to all. When Adult Swim began airing untitled


"infomercials"

at 4 a.m., not too many people noticed. Then came Caspar Kelly’s "Too Many Cooks." Ostensibly the title sequence to a


Full House

-style ’80s sitcom, it quickly became much, much more. When you first heard about it, your friend probably said "just


watch it.All

of it." Your friend was right. —


Peter Rubin

Adult Swim



Rick Ross x Pears

Once Ricky Rozay confessed his love for pears in an interview with Tim Westwood, the Internet leapt into action: one of the most entertaining Vines of the year, along with macros aplenty. Even Rawse's Instagram comments would never be the same. Screengrab/YouTube



Rick Ross x Pears

Why We Loved It:

It wasn’t so long ago that Rick Ross was in


sub-optimal health

. But then the fun-sized rapper found the key to weight loss: fruit! First there was


pineapple

, but then Rawse found his way to another fruit. A more refined fruit. A fruit fit for a kingpin...or at least a onetime prison guard who made millions talking about being a drug kingpin. That fruit, friends, was the pear. And our hero made no secret of his love for the pear in


an interview

with Tim Westwood—which promptly got turned into one of the most entertaining


Vines

of the year. Macros weren’t far behind, and poor Ricky Rozay’s


Instagram comments

would never be the same. —


Peter Rubin

Screengrab/YouTube



But That’s None Of My Business

The combination of Kermit and #ButThat’sNoneOfMyBusiness isn’t just great for the sight gag of a plushy frog sipping tea and leveling judgement. It’s great because if you knew Kermit, he would absolutely do this to you in real life. And every joke is funnier when it springs from a kernel of blistering truth.—Jordan Crucchiola



But That’s None Of My Business Why We Loved It: On its face, the juxtaposition of this bitchy meme with America’s beloved mascot of friendship and self-acceptance is hilarious because of the contrast. "Kermit is being such a dick LOL!" But take a second to really consider your relationship with the Muppet ringmaster, and it becomes even funnier because Kermit totally is a dick! His heart is pure and his message of love rings true, but on the day to day, all Kermit does is sling back-handed putdowns at his fellow Muppets. He rolls his eyes, he shakes his head; hell, he's led on the same girl for decades. Decades! The combination of Kermit and #ButThat’sNoneOfMyBusiness isn’t just great for the sight gag of a plushy frog sipping tea and leveling judgement. It’s great because if you knew Kermit, he would absolutely do this to you in real life. And every joke is funnier when it springs from a kernel of blistering truth.—Jordan Crucchiola





#NotAllMen

If there’s a silver lining to garbage years like this, it’s that amidst the rubble of bigotry, brutality, and other bile-spew that piled up over 2014, we at least got a handful of tools with which to mock the hatemongers. Case in point: #NotAllMen. WIRED



#NotAllMen

Why We Loved It: If there’s a silver lining to garbage years like this, it’s that amidst the rubble of bigotry, brutality, and other bile-spew that piled up over 2014, we at least got a handful of really funny jokes with which to mock the hatemongers. Case in point, #NotAllMen, a hashtag initially used by men to charitably point out to women that not all men are rapists (thanks for the intel!) but ultimately hijacked by feminists to sarcastically point out the pathological absurdity of their need to make the epidemic of violence against women about their fragile egos. —Devon Maloney


WIRED






We’re not sure what happened to the half-life of a meme, but it’s dwindled to damn near fruit-fly levels of impermanence. And there’s seriously no way we’re about to try to remember all the “significant” ones from this year. Would the Ice Bucket Challenge qualify? Alex from Target? Things Tim Howard Could Save? Mad Jack Black? “On Fleek”? The “apparently” kid? #SochiProblems? Pharrell’s hat?


Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. “These are transitory anyway,” we thought, “so instead of trying to anoint them part of some pantheon that everyone’s just going to forget about by March, let’s just choose our favorites.” And that’s exactly what we did! From sarcasm to ridicule to out-and-out resignation, the best memes of the year are a perfect distillation of our (somewhat shameful) human condition. Read ’em and weep. Or laugh, maybe. But definitely weep, because we are the worst.





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