Seriously though, is anyone able to explain what that's supposed to mean? Why do so many memes have "nobody:" at the start and what is the creator trying to convey? "Here's a funny thing that nobody does?"
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
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I'll give a very literal example joke demonstrating how this used to function.
NOBODY:
ME: Yes, I did get a haircut. Thank you for asking.
See, nobody asked, but the speaker was still compelled to share this fact (or in other cases, an opinion). Over time, it became such a common format that people didn't even grasp the initial purpose beyond it being convention. The term "POV" in captions is used this way now too.
This meme format always annoys me because of the double negative. If "nobody" says nothing, then surely everyone says something.
Having said that, my native language uses double negative, for example "nobody said nothing" does mean that nobody said anything, but for some reason in the way the meme presents it and English language, it does not work for me.
Doesn't 'NOBODY: ' imply that nobody was quiet? Kind of a double negative...
I think it was originally used to mock unsolicited and weird statements. Like JK Rowling's addendums to the Harry Potter setting about stuff like wizard pre-toilet sewage practices. But as is the way of these things, people just slapped it on whatever because it was The Popular Meme
Meme format that initially made perfect sense gets gradually more and more misused as it gains popularity. More news at 11
makes about as much sense as calling random image macros memes
Easier to say you saw some meme instead of various different format jokes
The bastardization (genericization?) of the term meme irks me.
Me too. What happened to "joke"?
People say language evolves but it is more that language devolves.
Nobody said nothing but somebody still did something unasked for.
You forgot the nose!!!