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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle

Readers reply: what is – or was – the best-ever internet meme?

The original stock photo image of a guy looing at another girl while his girlfriend looks appalled
The meme that launched a thousand memes … Distracted Boyfriend, from 2017. Photograph: AntonioGuillem/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The dramatic chipmunk, distracted boyfriend, the raccoon with the candy floss or “success kid”, what is – or was – the absolute top, world-beating, best-ever internet meme? Antony Scacchi, Los Angeles, US

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. The next new question and replies to this week’s question will appear on Sunday 4 January.

Readers reply

I love the cat furiously typing at the keyboard. DMCMelbourne

Nothing since comes close to the obvious winner – the crazy frog meme. astrothewonderdog

Hello, World! Billions of people wrote this as their first ever line of code, or their first web page, a sunny greeting full of the optimism of starting something new. It’s been a rite of passage since long before the internet existed, but it sums up everything that the internet should be. Randomusername222

Badgers by British animator Jonti Picking, also known as Mr Weebl

Badger badger badger, mushroom, mushroom. clodhop and ConfusedDotDom

Sneezing baby panda. Also, and not sure it’s a meme as such, but the lolcat bible. Patrickdodds

The one of Tom DeLonge (from Blink-182) in the blond wig and moustache mouthing “What the fuck” might not be the best but always makes me laugh. SpaceWater

Does anyone else have a soft spot for the original cat-in-a-shark-costume riding on a Roomba? So many imitators! daleaway

A photographic diptych shows a woman crying with anger, held back by her friend in the first panel, sneering and pointing with anger at her nemesis in the second panel … a white cat sat at the head of a table, with a look on its face that says: “I know I hurt you Karen, and I just don’t care.” Everything about it is perfect, the sheer drama of it, and the punchline of a cat with that astounding look on his face. Gets me every time. I still have no idea what’s going on, and I never want to. The joy is in the interpretation. Taffer

The ‘Zombie Kid’ Jonathan Ware.

“I like turtles” … Universal answer. GreyMouser

This all-timer burn reaction gif. Estand

Why you always lying. LiamForest

World’s most accurate pie chart. DermotTrellis

I don’t know if it’s the best, but there are surely none more apposite to the current moment than “the stupid it burns”. IrishIain

Homer hedge retreat. CashPoint

I’ll always have a soft spot for the original Doge meme. It’s a throwback to a more innocent time on the internet. Wow. Such meme. bearvsshark

“I’m not a cat” lawyer Zoom meme. Never gets old and tops if you are having a bad day. Anton1961

‘I’m not a cat’ lawyer meme.

Rickrolling. My son finds it hilarious in his mid-teens today, despite the meme coming into existence years before he was even conceived and Rick Astley’s song being released two decades before that. He and I both still use it as a dance in Fortnite. Dorkalicious

Does this mean that the internet is nearly over if we’re looking at “best ofs”?! Yay! AntipodeanGula

I’m too old to even know what an internet meme is, having been born in 1967. EddieChorepost

A smiling cartoon dog sits at a table, coffee mug on hand, as a room goes up in flames. “This is fine,” the dog assures himself. GrasmereGardens

When the furore about the Covid parties at Westminster happened, there was a great video with Johnson, Rees-Mogg etc to the Beastie Boys’ Fight for Your Right (To Party). PeteTheBeat

F*** you, I’m an anteater. Then this masterpiece. tafkapao

Condescending fox: Look at you – on a computer and everything! Charismata

All your base are belong to us! The original and the best. Ian Davies, by email

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