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28 Literal Memes That Delivered Exactly What They Promised

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Literal memes

There’s a special place in my heart for memes that say exactly what they mean—and then beat you over the head with it for good measure. Literal memes aren’t trying to be deep or layered; they just show up, slap you in the face with their directness, and leave. I once sent a friend a meme that said “eggplant emoji” and it was literally a drawing of an eggplant with “emoji” written on it. Did I laugh until I cried? Absolutely. These memes are the comedic equivalent of asking someone for directions and getting a full GPS printout taped to your forehead. They’re absurd, ridiculous, and somehow perfect.

This lineup of memes is a masterclass in taking things too far—on purpose. Expect visual puns, painfully accurate signage, and some aggressively literal interpretations of popular phrases. These memes are what happen when people on the internet decide that nuance is overrated. With phrases illustrated exactly as they sound, you’ll get everything from visual dad jokes to graphic design crimes that were probably made by robots trying their best. It's all clean, silly fun, like a pun got punched in the face by a dictionary. You'll leave either howling or face-palming—or both.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY NATIONAL LANDSCAPE GALLERY
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Vegetables Sports Ways to Die
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I'm gonna make you mine Oh my god, Yes.
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Storm Tropical Storm
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Local man addicted to brake fluid says he can stop anytime he wants....
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She can't catch you cheating if you don't cheat
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Original image Cropped image
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LOOK DAD, A NAVY WARSHIP
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Rub a bit of olive oil and Epsom salt on the painful spots on your body and it will immediately feel greasier and saltier.
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You just spent your time scrolling through a parade of memes that read like a dad joke was given artistic freedom and no adult supervision. You saw literal interpretations of everyday sayings, jokes that took no creative detours, and images that slapped the comedy button with the subtlety of a marching band. Some made you laugh out loud, some made you groan audibly, and all of them reminded you why the internet remains undefeated in absurd humor. Whether you loved every one or now need a long walk to process them, you can’t deny they delivered exactly what they promised.

If these literal masterpieces left you craving more comedic accuracy—or wildly unnecessary overthinking—then there’s a buffet of meme genres waiting for you. You might enjoy grammar memes that correct the world one typo at a time, painfully obvious instruction fails, bizarre product reviews, or visual puns that somehow get worse the longer you stare at them. Whatever your flavor of funny, the internet has no shortage of weirdly specific content just like this.

Who needs to see this?

Send it to the friend who’ll laugh the hardest, or post it for everyone.

Posted by Roy R. About the author

Roy has been one of the internet's meme tastemakers for more than a decade. He and Phil started Thunder Dungeon in 2012 by posting the stuff they found funny, and it grew into viral photo and video creations, one of the largest meme community apps and one of the best sites for daily meme content. If you've spent any time online, you've probably laughed at one of his memes.

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