I have a very specific face I make when a meme turns on me in the last three words. It’s a slow blink, like a cat watching someone leave without feeding it. That’s the whole job of hold up memes: an innocent setup, a perfectly normal sentence, and then a turn so sharp my brain has to back up and get a running start. I’ve made the face all week. Proceed with mild caution.
Priorities were set, and they were correct.
Nine lives, apparently one plus-one.
Honestly, no notes on dad.
Loophole parenting at its finest.
He was very reasonable about the dog too.
Clean as you go, right?
I'm moving. Tonight.
My brain says croissant, my heart says puppy.
Do not do this math in your head.
Profit margins have never looked cleaner.
Diabolical. I respect it.
Unexpected memes get me because I’m an optimist, which is embarrassing to admit at my age. I trust the first half of every sentence. A lunchbox review starts out so helpful, so practical, and then the reviewer mentions his wife in a way the lunchbox did not need to know about. I keep falling for it. I’ll fall for it again tomorrow.
Then there’s the dirty memes side of things, which I’m describing from a safe distance with oven mitts on. The best inappropriate memes never actually say the thing. They let you get there yourself, so technically you’re the one with the dirty mind, and honestly, fair. I once laughed at a candy wrapper so hard in a gas station that the cashier asked if I was okay. I was not.
I think we send these to each other because they’re a tiny trust exercise. You’re telling a friend that you know they’ll reach the end of the sentence and make the face, and you want to be there when they do. It’s intimacy, kind of. Gross intimacy, but still. Nobody forwards a hold up meme to someone they don’t like.
The setup was innocent. The ending was not. The screenshot is forever.
Still have room for more questionable decisions? 40 Hold Up Wait A Minute Memes That Will Make You Look Twice has plenty of double takes left, and 23 Dirty Memes For People Who Like Their Laughs A Little Spicy picks up right where this one trails off. Clear your browser history after.
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Phil co-founded Thunder Dungeon with Roy in 2012 and has been a meme tastemaker ever since, helping turn a page of funny finds into viral photo and video creations, one of the largest meme community apps and a daily home for memes. He's more than memes, too: Phil is an award-winning comedic actor and director whose feature films are on streaming platforms.
