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The Best Memes of the Last 15 Years

Viral Humor, Bizarre Curiousities, and Infectious Storytelling

By Paul Gil, About.com Guide

May, 2013

"Memes" are cultural symbols and social ideas that spread virally. In the same way that a flu bug travels from person to person, memes travel through social media and email.

Memes are often things of minor consequence: jokes, urban legends, human and animal oddities. But in some cases, memes are art and music curiosities, and even philosophical ideas worth repeating.

Modern memes commonly take the form of photos and videos/animations/songs.

Here are the most popular modern internet memes today.

1. Gas Pump Karaoke Prank

This smile-inducing prank has become a viral hit. The prankster is a faux newscaster on a gas pump TV. He starts a conversation with Will and Monifa Sims, two California customers filling up their minivan. The conversation turns into an impromptu singing performance, with Will and Monifa performing songs from the 1980's. This is a terrific example of human talent and infectious spirit, and if you're like most viewers, you will cheer and clap during this delightful video.

See the gas pump karaoke prank here...

2. Randall, the Honey Badger Animal Narrator

Randall is an effeminate narrator who creates voice-overs for animal videos. He is renowned for coining the expression 'honey badger don't care', which is quickly becoming a conversational phrase of courage.

Randall's narrating is flamboyant, irreverent, profane, sassy and preposterous all at once. His internet fame started with his narration of a badger video, where the little beast would hunt and eat its prey on screen. Oddly, Randall's narration is quite engaging, so don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting more Randall videos after honey badger.

See the honey badger video here

3. LOLcats

icanhazcheeseburger.com

The absurd gallery of people attaching human behaviors and captions to photos of housecats. If you like Gary Larson's 'Far Side' cartoons, you are bound to like LOLcats/Cheezburger...

See for yourself

4. Ermahgerd

'Ermahgerd' is 'oh my god' as pronounced by someone with a speech impediment. It means 'shock' and 'stupidity' at the same time, often as a caption for unflattering photos. You can caption 'ermahgerd' on your own photos to describe that you did something stupid today, or you can use it to insult someone else by replying 'ermagherd' to their online posts.

Ermahgerd is also becoming popular as a caption for animal photos, much like lolcats. For the most part, ermagherd is a derogatory term like 'doh' or 'durp'.

5. Gangnam Style, by Rapper Psy

YouTube screenshot

The most-liked video in YouTube history, this pop song was released by South Korean rapper, Psy, in July of 2012. In this video, Psy inspires a funny dance style involving an invisible horse and clumsy dance moves. The 'Gangnam Style' itself is a parody of people's perceptions of the upscale Gangnam District in the city of Seoul, where the residents are known to be wealthy and trendy. See the video for yourself, and see why it has won the MTV Video of the Year.

FYI: here are the English lyrics to the Gangnam Style song.

6. The New Old Spice Guy

screen capture of YouTube

These preposterous commercials are exactly that: preposterous. Yet these commercials have a real charm that makes women grin and men guffaw. Take a look at the number of hits that these Old Spice commercials get on YouTube... that should give you a sense of how viral these commercials are.

See the Old Spice Man here

7. More Cowbell

Christopher Walken immortalized the expression 'more cowbell' on Saturday Night Live. Today, 'more cowbell' is a daily expression of humor. This particular meme won't reach you by email forwards, but you can certainly expect the expression 'more cowbell' to occur in daily conversation with the modern generation.

8. The Double Rainbow

screen capture of YouTube

You'd swear the cameraman was on some kind of acid trip when he shot this video. But Paul Vasquez claims that he was having a spiritual experience at the sight of this Yosemite Park rainbow. People have since flocked to his YouTube page to leave comments. Take a look for yourself, and decide if this home video is all just an act, or a sincere life experience.

See Hungrybear9562's 'Double Rainbow' home footage here

9. Epic Fail!

This photo and video blog is mesmerizing! Here are pictoral essays on the tragic mistakes of people around the world. Bad drivers, stunts gone bad, public faux pas embarassments... this website is absolutely hypnotic in the way it depicts human folly. The idea of "schadenfreude" (delighting in other people's misfortune) has never been so humorously done. Be warned: once you visit this site, you will be addicted to checking it every week for new additions...

10. Rickroll Someone

Getty Images

A prankster meme: people will pretend to send critical business email links in emails, but are actually sending links to Rick Astley music videos from the 1980's.