Meme glossary

Parent Split-Face Trend

Meaning: A TikTok photo trend where you merge half of your face with half of your mom's or dad's face into one portrait to show how much you look alike.

The Parent Split-Face Trend is a photo format built around one simple question: which parent did you actually get your face from? Participants take a portrait of themselves and a portrait of their mom or dad, slice each down the middle, and stitch the halves together so the eyes, nose, and mouth line up along a single vertical seam. The result is one composite face that instantly shows whether the resemblance is uncanny or nonexistent. The classic look is black-and-white, with the two source photos matched for angle, lighting, and expression so the join reads cleanly; color versions exist too, but the monochrome style is the one most associated with the trend. Captions typically lean on the phrases everyone has heard their whole life, 'you look like your mom' or 'you look just like your dad', and on TikTok the format also travels under tags like 'thank you mom' and 'thank you dad.'

Example: “My mom sent me her old headshot so we could do the Parent Split-Face Trend and the resemblance is actually scary.”

Seen in use: Instagram @samanthaslider03152023 (Aug 7, 2026)

Peanuts

Meaning: Peanuts memes are jokes and reaction images built from Charles Schulz's classic Charlie Brown comic strips, repurposed online to express relatable feelings.

In meme culture, 'Peanuts' refers to the wave of memes built from Charles Schulz's long-running comic strip starring Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and the rest of the gang. The strip's whole vibe, a perpetually awkward kid who loses at everything, turns out to be perfectly engineered for internet humor. As ScreenRant put it, before the world had memes, it had Peanuts: the strips were 'weirdly relatable as much as they can be downright hilarious,' which is basically the job description of a meme. Old panels get screenshotted, captioned and circulated on social media the same way newspaper clippings once got passed around, giving the strip a second life with a new generation of readers.

Example: “She said she'd hold the door this time and I believed her. Full Charlie Brown football moment.”

Sources: ScreenRant (Jun 26, 2025), Kathryn's Inbox (Sep 8, 2017)

Pew pew

Meaning: Pew pew is an interjection imitating the sound of a gun or laser, also used to signal ownership in games or to mark an awkward moment.

The core of ‘pew pew’ is an onomatopoeic interjection that imitates the sharp, rapid sound of a gun firing or a laser blast. This usage draws directly from pop-culture references such as the blaster sounds in Star Wars and the generic ‘pew pew’ heard in many arcade and first-person shooter games. When spoken, it functions as a sound effect rather than a literal description, allowing users to convey the idea of shooting without needing to name a specific weapon. The tone is typically light-hearted and playful, often deployed in the midst of gaming streams, meme captions, or casual chat to emphasize a moment of virtual or imagined violence.

Example: “He pulled out his pew pew and started firing at the aliens.”

Seen in use: YouTube @angelinacook5123 (Sep 5, 2026)

Quandale Dingle

Meaning: Quandale Dingle is a meme name used in goofy, absurd TikTok shitposts that parody news reports and exaggerate ridiculous actions.

The Quandale Dingle meme centers on the name of a Pennsauken high school football player whose Windows login screen screenshot went viral on TikTok in September 2021. Users treat the name as a placeholder for absurd, over-the-top shitposts, often pairing it with distorted images, most frequently a warped picture of rapper NBA Youngboy, and low-fi "goofy ahh" audio tracks. The format frequently mimics a RapTV-style news broadcast, complete with a fake ticker and solemn voice-over that reports ridiculous actions attributed to Quandale Dingle.

Example: “I just saw a Quandale Dingle edit where he’s supposedly negotiating peace between Italy and France.”

Seen in use: X @Luigifan122 (Nov 22, 2024)

Sources: Dexerto (May 4, 2022), Know Your Meme (Apr 22, 2024)

Sigma face

Meaning: A tongue-in-cheek term for an ultra-precise Facebook-stalking skill, jokingly called "Six Sigma Facebook Stalking."

In contemporary internet slang, “sigma face” is a tongue-in-cheek badge of honor applied to anyone who demonstrates an almost inhuman ability to locate obscure or hidden Facebook profiles with speed, precision, and a smug confidence. The term fuses two distinct concepts: “sigma,” borrowed from Six Sigma, a quality-control methodology that aims for a defect rate of just 3.4 per million, symbolizing near-perfect efficiency, and “face,” which adds a visual, almost caricatured element, suggesting the person wears a self-satisfied expression (the proverbial “smirk”) while performing the search. The phrase is therefore not a literal description of a facial expression but a metaphorical shorthand for a particular kind of digital sleuthing prowess. It is used both earnestly, as a genuine compliment among friends who admire each other’s investigative skill, and sarcastically, to call out or mock someone who is being overly invasive or obsessive in their Facebook stalking. Because the joke hinges on the specificity of Facebook, a platform whose user base skews older than TikTok or Instagram, the meme circulates most heavily among Millennials and older Gen-Z users who still maintain active Facebook accounts and are familiar with the platform’s privacy quirks. The expression also carries a subtext of critique: it lampoons the obsessive data-mining culture that has emerged in the age of social media, framing the act of finding a hidden profile as a pseudo-industrial process worthy of Six Sigma certification. In practice, “sigma face” appears in meme captions, comment threads, and short video skits where the speaker adopts a dead-pan tone while displaying a screenshot of a Facebook search result, thereby reinforcing the juxtaposition of high-tech precision with low-brow internet humor.

Example: “Dude, you found her old FB page? You’re basically sigma face.”

Sources: tuko.co.ke (Jan 5, 2024), grumpysharks.com (May 7, 2025)

Skinwalker

Meaning: A skinwalker is a shapeshifting creature that can imitate animals or people, and online it's the go-to joke for anything acting suspiciously not-quite-human.

In its original sense, a skinwalker is a figure from Navajo culture: a type of witch, sometimes described as a medicine man or high-ranking priest who gained supernatural powers by breaking a cultural taboo, with the ability to transform into or possess an animal. Wiktionary glosses it as a person in certain Native American mythologies who can transform into any animal when wearing its pelt. That older, literal sense still exists, but it is not how most people online use the word today.

Example: “Bro why is your dog staring at me like that, that's a whole skinwalker”

Seen in use: YouTube @Sunrise1357_2 (Sep 25, 2026), YouTube @EverydayCanadaViews (Sep 24, 2026), YouTube @xavierkyrieelijahreotuta-iq1lu (Sep 25, 2026)

Spooky month

Meaning: Spooky month is a playful meme-based way to refer to October and its Halloween-themed festivities.

Spooky month is a playful expression used to refer to the month of October, especially its Halloween-themed festivities. It functions as an interjection, noun, or phrase that people drop into conversations to signal excitement for the spooky season, often accompanied by the goofy "spooky dance" or the chant "ITS'A SPOOKY MONTH". The term is not a formal holiday name but a meme-derived way of marking the period when costumes, candy, scary movies, and other Halloween traditions come into focus.

Example: “Spooky month! Time to break out the costume box and start the marathon of horror movies.”

Seen in use: Reddit u/Rodwen (Oct 1, 2026), Reddit u/Suitable_Ad_6711 (Oct 1, 2026)

The backrooms

Meaning: The Backrooms is an internet meme depicting an endless maze of yellow-wallpapered, fluorescent-lit rooms that evoke liminal unease and horror.

The Backrooms began as an internet urban legend after an anonymous 2019 post on 4chan’s creepypasta board shared an image of an empty carpeted room illuminated by harsh fluorescent lights. The accompanying caption described the scene as “nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz.” This stark, liminal image resonated with users who felt the space was both familiar and unsettling, a place that exists between reality and something else.

Example: “After hours of streaming, Jax said he felt like he was wandering the Backrooms, eyes tired from the constant fluorescent hum.”

Sources: note.com (Sep 22, 2026), uk.news.yahoo.com (May 27, 2026), ca.news.yahoo.com (May 30, 2026)

They're Good Dogs Brent

Meaning: A famous Twitter clapback where WeRateDogs shut down a guy criticizing its generous dog ratings by replying 'they're good dogs Brent', misspelling his name on purpose.

At its core, 'they're good dogs Brent' is the internet's favorite polite shutdown. The whole joke is the tone: instead of arguing with the critic's point about rating scales, @dog_rates answered with a flat, warm, completely unbothered statement of values, all dogs are good, end of discussion, and misspelled the guy's name while doing it. That combination of kindness and dismissal is what made it legendary. It says 'I hear your complaint and I reject its entire premise' without a single hostile word.

Example: “Someone in the replies said golden retrievers are overrated, so obviously the top comment is just 'they're good dogs Brent.'”

Sources: Shaw Local (Jan 5, 2017)

Things To Say

Meaning: A meme format where a cool-looking celebrity photo is paired with a list of obviously terrible things to say in a specific situation.

Things To Say is a parody advice format. Each post picks a situation or a person, meeting your partner's father, sitting through a job interview, going on a date, talking to your mom, even speaking to a puppy, and then delivers a bulleted list of things you are supposedly meant to say. The catch is that every single suggestion is bizarre, awkward, or obviously ruinous. The original post that kicked the format off offered ironic advice on things to say to your partner after 'cracking,' slang for getting intimate, with gems like 'Can I pay with card?' and 'Woohoo!' Nobody is meant to actually follow the advice; the entire joke is the gap between the confident, self-help-style presentation and the catastrophic content of the list.

Example: “Things to say when meeting your partner's father, according to the meme: 'So... where do you keep the good snacks?'”

Seen in use: Instagram @feed.forensics (Sep 23, 2026), Instagram @kabanfamily482 (Sep 23, 2026), Instagram @scottysfartcanister (Sep 20, 2026)

This is fine

Meaning: A sarcastic phrase used when things are actually terrible but the speaker pretends they’re okay.

In contemporary online slang, “this is fine” functions as a deadpan, sarcastic refrain that signals a stark dissonance between the speaker’s outward composure and the chaotic, distressing reality they are confronting. The phrase is typically invoked when a situation is obviously disastrous, absurd, or emotionally taxing, yet the speaker pretends, or mocks the pretense, that everything is under control. This duality creates a comedic tension: the audience instantly recognizes the underlying panic or resignation, while the speaker’s flat-toned declaration amplifies the irony. The expression is most often paired with visual media, especially the iconic image of an orange dog in a hat sipping coffee while a house burns around it, so that the caption “this is fine” becomes a shorthand for “I’m internally collapsing, but I’ll act like it’s all good.” The usage can be purely self-deprecating (e.g., a student posting a failing grade screenshot with the caption) or a broader social commentary (e.g., reacting to political turmoil, climate crises, or personal setbacks). Because the phrase is deliberately minimalist, it can be dropped into any medium, text comments, meme captions, video overlays, or reaction GIFs, making it a versatile tool for expressing resigned humor in digital conversations.

Example: “My Wi-Fi died during the final boss fight, this is fine.”

Sources: dailydot.com (Oct 18, 2025), comicbook.com (Oct 21, 2025), gamerant.com (Oct 19, 2025)

Thoughts On Lanterns

Meaning: Thoughts On Lanterns is a meme format where users replace the Lanterns TV show characters with other famous duos and change the caption to match the new franchise.

The Thoughts On Lanterns meme is an exploitable format that takes a promotional still from the 2026 DC series Lanterns, showing actors Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan walking down a street. The original post simply asked “Thoughts on Lanterns 2026?” with that image. In the meme, users keep the basic two-person composition but replace the Lanterns characters with any other well-known duo, from cartoon pairs like Cuphead’s Mugman and Cuphead or SpongeBob and Patrick to live-action couples such as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. Simultaneously they edit the caption, swapping “Lanterns” for the name of the franchise the new characters belong to. The joke relies on the visual mismatch: the serious, posed promotional shot suddenly depicts an unrelated pair, creating a humorous disconnect that works even for viewers who have never seen the Lanterns show.

Example: “I saw a Thoughts On Lanterns edit where the duo was replaced by Rick and Morty, and the caption read 'Thoughts on Portal?'.”

Seen in use: X @jadeladeljadel (Sep 8, 2026), X @PeterPorker97 (Sep 9, 2026), X @jadeladeljadel (Sep 8, 2026)

Sources: Know Your Meme (Sep 10, 2026)

Tralalero tralala

Meaning: A meme character: an AI-generated three-legged shark in blue Nike sneakers, named by the nonsense chant “tralalero tralala.”

In today's meme-verse, 'tralalero tralala' refers to a specific AI-generated character: a three-legged shark wearing bright blue Nike sneakers. The phrase itself is the character's nickname, coined from the repetitive singsong chant that often accompanies the visual. The shark appears in short-form videos, animated stickers, and meme templates, usually doing random, over-the-top actions that emphasize its absurdity, like sprinting across a digital beach or doing a goofy dance to a viral beat. This absurdity is key to the meme's humor and appeal, as it creates a sense of cognitive dissonance between the shark's impossible anatomy and its everyday actions. The character's bright blue Nike sneakers add to the absurdity, as they seem out of place on a shark, making the image even more jarring and memorable.

Example: “TikTok caption: 'When you finally find the Wi-Fi signal… tralalero tralala '”

Sources: dailydot.com (Apr 30, 2025), says.com (Jun 6, 2025), actualapp.com (Aug 12, 2025)

Trenches

Meaning: The trenches is slang for a rough, dangerous place you had to survive, now mostly used ironically or for risky crypto trading.

At its core, 'the trenches' is slang for a rough, dangerous, or grinding environment, the kind of place you had to survive to get where you are. The literal sense is military: actual trenches soldiers fight from, and that sense is still alive in posts about real war footage. But in everyday online slang, saying you grew up 'in the trenches' means you came from a hard neighborhood, a tough situation, or a chaotic grind. It carries a badge-of-honor energy: being from the trenches implies you're hardened, resourceful, and earned everything the hard way. That's why the phrase shows up in both sincere flexes ('I made it out of the trenches') and self-deprecating jokes about embarrassing habits ('did y'all ever eat these straight outta the can, or was I too deep in the trenches?').

Example: “Bro really said he grew up in the trenches and then posted his beachfront childhood home.”

Seen in use: Reddit u/Prestigious-Top8534 (Sep 8, 2026), X @kivoxbt (Sep 28, 2026), X @Jaydotcrypto (Sep 25, 2026)

Sources: Art Threat (Apr 9, 2026)