Forums & Reddit

● Aliven.✎ 3

Legend

'Legend' — a person who did something slightly above the ordinary: got the round in, replied to the email, found the remote. The record's entry for the British compliment that gives a myth to anyone who was helpful.

▸ 2010peak 2016still up

☠ Deadphr.✎ 3

Me Gusta

A face of disturbing pleasure, captioned 'me gusta' — 'I like it', in Spanish — as the rage-comic reaction to something one enjoys and should not. The record's entry for the face, its artist, who is known, and the two years it lived.

▸ 2010peak 2012†2014

● Aliven.✎ 2

Nice Guy™

A man who describes himself as nice and behaves otherwise when refused — the Nice Guy, with a trademark symbol — as the internet's name for the type, and a subreddit collecting the screenshots. The record's entry for the adjective that became a warning.

▸ 2010peak 2015still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Red Pill

The pill from The Matrix that shows the truth, adopted by online communities — first about relationships, then about everything — as the word for a conversion to their view. 'Redpilled' is the state; 'take the red pill' the invitation. The record's entry for the film prop that became an ideology, filed for the word and not the ideology.

▸ 2010peak 2017still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Sort by Controversial

The setting that shows the most-argued comments first — sort by controversial — as the advice for finding the real conversation, and the record's entry for the button that everyone presses when a thread is too polite. 'The real answer is in controversial' is a whole philosophy.

▸ 2010peak 2016still up

● Alivev.✎ 2

Throwing

Losing a game you were winning — a throw — from the sporting idea of throwing a match into the gaming word for any collapse, and, since 2020, for any person who ruins a sure thing: 'he threw the date'. The record's entry for the loss that was your own.

▸ 2010peak 2016still up

● Aliveadj.✎ 3

Tilted

Playing badly because you are angry — on tilt, tilted — from poker into every competitive game and, by 2018, into life: 'I'm tilted about the bus'. The record's entry for the emotional state as a mechanic, and for Tilted Towers, which was a place.

▸ 2010peak 2016still up

● Aliveadj.✎ 2

Toxic

Hostile, cruel, bad for everyone — toxic — as the gaming word for a player who ruins the chat, which met therapy-speak in 2018 and became the word for a person, a job, a relationship and, by the Oxford dictionary's decision, the word of the year. The record's entry for the adjective that swallowed everything.

▸ 2010peak 2018still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Tryhard

A player who takes a casual game seriously — the tryhard — as an insult from people who are losing to them. The record's entry for effort as a crime, and for the word that made 'trying' an accusation for a generation of children.

▸ 2010peak 2016still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Underrated Comment

'Underrated comment' — the reply to a comment that deserves more likes, posted by someone who then gets more likes than it — as the internet's most self-defeating compliment. The record's entry for the praise that overtakes its object.

▸ 2010peak 2015still up

● Aliveinterj.✎ 2

Wat

'What', with the h removed and the meaning changed — 'wat' — as the reaction to something so wrong that a full word is too much, with an old woman's baffled face as its picture. The record's entry for confusion in three letters, and for a 2012 talk about JavaScript that made it a programmer's word.

▸ 2010peak 2013still up

● Aliven.✎ 7

Wojak

A bald outline face, drawn to feel something. Has mutated into more documented subspecies than any other drawing on the internet, and shows no sign of stopping.

▸ 2010peak 2019still up

☠ Deadphr.✎ 3

Y U No

'Y U NO' — a screaming face from a manga, captioned with a complaint in broken English: 'Y U NO reply?' — as the rage-comic era's demand for an explanation. The record's entry for the face, the grammar, and the two years it was everywhere.

▸ 2010peak 2012†2014

● Aliven.✎ 3

Cake Day

The anniversary of a Reddit account, marked with a cake icon and a post asking for upvotes — cake day — as the site's only birthday, and the record's entry for the celebration of having been on a website for a year, which is, on reflection, something.

▸ 2009peak 2013still up

☠ Deadphr.✎ 3

Cool Story Bro

A response indicating nobody had asked. Printed on so many T-shirts that the T-shirt became the story.

▸ 2009peak 2010†2013

● Alivev.✎ 3

Feeding

Dying repeatedly to the enemy, making them stronger — feeding — as the MOBA's worst crime and the word for anyone helping the other side by being bad. The record's entry for incompetence as nourishment.

▸ 2009peak 2015still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Hover Hand

A man's hand not quite touching the woman he is photographed with, hovering an inch from her shoulder — the hover hand — as the internet's name for a specific awkwardness, first spotted at conventions and since everywhere. The record's entry for the gap that speaks.

▸ 2009peak 2012still up

☠ Deadadj.✎ 2

Le (Reddit)

'Le' — the French article, put in front of English words for no reason — 'le me, walking to le shop' — as the rage-comic era's verbal tic, and the reason 'le epic' is still a joke. The record's entry for the article that meant 'I am on Reddit in 2011'.

▸ 2009peak 2011†2013

☠ Deadphr.✎ 3

Narwhal Bacons at Midnight

'The narwhal bacons at midnight' — a password for redditors to recognise each other in public, invented in 2009 and mortifying by 2012. The record's entry for the secret handshake, the two animals in it, and the era in which Reddit believed it was a secret society.

▸ 2009peak 2011†2013

☠ Deadphr.✎ 2

U Mad Bro

'You mad, bro?' — the troll's question to a victim, asked with a Trollface, as the 2009–11 way of declaring victory in an argument by noting the other person's anger. The record's entry for the taunt that made anger a loss.

▸ 2009peak 2011†2014

☠ Deadn.

Advice Animals

A face on a coloured background, two lines of Impact, one character trait. The industrial phase of the meme, when anyone could make one and everyone did.

▸ 2008peak 2011†2014

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Be Me

'>be me' — the opening line of a greentext, establishing that the narrator is the narrator, and now used outside the format for any story told in the present tense about oneself. The record's entry for the two words that begin a thousand stories.

▸ 2008peak 2013still up

● Aliven., v.✎ 4

Crosspost

Posting the same thing to a second subreddit, ideally with a note saying so. For years the note was a title tag, [x-post from r/somewhere], which was the internet's way of admitting a repost before anyone could accuse you of one. Reddit built a native crosspost button in 2017 that keeps the original poster's name attached. Also the verb: to crosspost is to want two audiences and risk both. Elsewhere it means the same thing on any platform where a post can travel.

▸ 2008peak 2018still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Dubs

A post number ending in repeated digits — 22, 777, 8888 — treated as a lucky omen and greeted with 'checked'. The record's entry for the numerology of a message board, and for the only luck that was entirely automatic.

▸ 2008peak 2012still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Greentext

A story told in green lines beginning with '>' — '>be me, >go to shop' — as the board's storytelling form, which produced a literature of short, sad, funny anecdotes that ended in the phrase 'mfw'. The record's entry for the format as a genre.

▸ 2008peak 2013still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Implying

'>implying' — the greentext reply that mocks an assumption by stating it: '>implying anyone reads the manual'. The record's entry for the sarcasm with an arrow, and the board's most efficient way of disagreeing.

▸ 2008peak 2012still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 5

Mods Asleep

Post whatever the rules forbid, because the enforcers are in bed. Faded as moderation stopped sleeping and started being software.

▸ 2008peak 2011still up

● Aliveinterj.✎ 3

Pause

'Pause' — said after an accidental double entendre to flag it, as the successor to a worse phrase and the record's entry for the interjection that makes a sentence innocent by noticing it was not.

▸ 2008peak 2015still up

☠ Deadn.✎ 3

Philosoraptor

A velociraptor, thinking, captioned with a pseudo-profound question — 'if you enjoy wasting time, was the time wasted?' — as the 2008–12 macro for shower thoughts before they had a subreddit. The record's entry for the dinosaur philosopher, who was retired with honour.

▸ 2008peak 2011†2014

☠ Deadn.✎ 2

Rage Comic

Crude faces in panels, drawn badly on purpose. The last meme format that required its audience to make something rather than caption something.

▸ 2008peak 2011†2013

● Aliven.✎ 1

Sauce

A request for where an image came from. Now asked about everything, and answered about almost nothing.

▸ 2008peak 2012still up

● Aliveinterj.✎ 3

Source?

'Source?' — the one-word demand for evidence, which is sometimes a request and usually an attack, and the record's entry for the question that has ended more arguments than any answer. 'Source: trust me bro' is its reply, and its parody.

▸ 2008peak 2015still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Throwaway Account

An account created for one confession, then abandoned — a throwaway — as Reddit's mechanism for saying the unsayable, and the source of its best and worst stories. 'Throwaway for obvious reasons' opens a thousand posts. The record's entry for the mask with a shelf life.

▸ 2008peak 2013still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

White Knight

A man who defends a woman online in the hope of reward — the white knight — as the 2008–14 accusation against anyone who objected to harassment, and the record's entry for the term that made decency suspicious. Filed for the word; the record has its own opinion.

▸ 2008peak 2014still up

● Aliven.

Creepypasta

Horror fiction that circulates as rumour. The genre in which authorship is not just unknown but actively unwanted.

▸ 2007peak 2012still up

☠ Deadn.✎ 5

Duckroll

A duck on wheels served instead of what a link promised. Existed for weeks before its successor, and is filed here so the record shows the mechanic came first and Astley second.

▸ 2007peak 2007†2007

☠ Deadn.✎ 2

Lolrus

A walrus with a bucket, and the saga — 'I has a bucket', 'NOOO they be stealin my bucket' — told across several images in 2007, as the lolcat era's great tragedy. The record's entry for the walrus, the bucket, and the loss, which the record still feels.

▸ 2007peak 2008†2011

☠ Deadinterj.✎ 3

Lolwut

'Lol, what?' — amused confusion, in one word, with a painting of a pear as its image — as the 2007–09 reaction to anything absurd. The record's entry for the interjection, and for the pear, which was by a real artist and did not consent.

▸ 2007peak 2009†2012

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

OP Delivered

The rare moment a thread's original poster actually provided what they promised — 'OP delivered' — against the standing assumption that OP would not. The record's entry for the surprise of a kept promise, and the board's highest praise.

▸ 2007peak 2011still up

↺ Undeadv.✎ 7

Rickroll

A bait link resolving to Rick Astley. Has died and been resurrected more times than any other entry here, which arguably makes it the healthiest thing in the dictionary.

▸ 2007peak 2008†2010

● Aliven.✎ 6

Rule 63

For every character, there is a version of the opposite sex. Less famous than its neighbour and a great deal more work for the artists.

▸ 2007peak 2012still up

● Alivev.

Shitposting

Posting deliberately low-effort or derailing content, as a craft. Now the dominant register of most platforms, including the official accounts of governments.

▸ 2007peak 2016still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

The Cake Is a Lie

Graffiti from a 2007 game warning that the promised reward does not exist, which became the phrase for any false promise for about three years and then a sign of having been online in 2008. The record's entry for the cake, which was, in the end, real, which nobody remembers.

▸ 2007peak 2008still up

☠ Deadn.✎ 1

Advice Dog

A puppy on a rainbow background giving terrible guidance. Spawned an entire taxonomy of animals with opinions and was retired by its own descendants.

▸ 2006peak 2008†2011

☠ Deadn.✎ 3

Ceiling Cat

A cat looking through a hole in a ceiling, captioned as God — 'Ceiling Cat is watching you' — as the lolcat era's deity, with Basement Cat as its devil and a whole Bible translated into lolspeak in its honour. The record's entry for the cat that was watched back.

▸ 2006peak 2008†2011

● Aliven.✎ 2

Copypasta

A block of text pasted verbatim across the web until it wears smooth. Oral tradition with a clipboard.

▸ 2006peak 2013still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

It's Over 9000

A Dragon Ball Z line about a power level, misquoted from the dub, as the internet's number for 'a lot' from 2006 onwards. The record's entry for the figure that means excess, and for the fact that the original line said 8,000 and nobody cares.

▸ 2006peak 2009still up

☠ Deadn.✎ 7

Lolcat

Cat photograph plus deliberately broken grammar. Taught the web that a caption is a language, then was replaced by that language.

▸ 2006peak 2008†2012