What's the OLDEST surviving meme that YOU still use today, regardless of format, either with or without an image?

Relevant in this topic

I still use this on occasion when my wife's cooking or is has a snack I want.

I had the pleasure of dropping this in a work context not that long ago:

This is still my favorite meme.

Whenever I want to sum up what capitalism is all about.

Badger Badger Badger

The post received more than 1.1 million views in less than 20 years.

I love how the optics have changed over the years...

Whenever I'm somewhere I haven't been

Regularly?

All your base are belong to us

This is the one that comes to mind. I love the work of Allie Brosh, it was cool to see one of her drawing becoming a meme.

And the "A Lot" monster too:

For the win…

Aight. I put on my robe and wizard hat.

this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxQhfoRwSGU

You have no chance to survive make your time.

I use this with my wife and kids all the time. They don't even get the reference.

How is babby formed. And pregnate, and all the other weird ass yahoo answer screen caps there were. It was wild

These fine owls are still living rent free in my head.

But the worst are probably Goatse, 2girls1cup, 1guy1jar, all the nazi ascii stuff. Modern day memers have it easy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilroy_was_here

I use ASCII instead of memes most times ^.^

I still use 1337 5P34K in certain games

Forsooth! This tapestry hath been altered. My knowledge doth derive from the stitching, as well as having observ'd many such forgeries in mine time.

The Bayeux Tapestry is probably one of the oldest memes (or at least the base for a set of memes) still in use in the digital age. So many earlier others based on wordplay or written text in general are probably incomprehensible now except to specific Tolkienesque ancient language nerds, since modern languages have mutated so much since medieval times, and are therefore lost.

Second place may belong to the Cool S.

The 3D Dancing baby

Pretty sure it's this one.

Edit: no, damn, how could I forget:

i still reply 14/f/cali anytime asks me my age.

and thats from like..the early/mid 90s. before memes as we knew it were a thing.

I lost.

𓀥 | 𓁆 𓀕
𓁆 𓀟 | 𓀣 𓁀

Honestly, a lot of the old memes stick around. They were actual memes that had a lifespan. Today's memes are here and gone in a week or two.

AoE and AoE2 still having an active player base and community makes me so happy. AoE2 is truly a timeless game

Anytime there’s a ridiculous argument come out with the “Now Kith”

eight million, eight thousand, one hundred and thirty-five.

aka 8008135

Does telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl count?

"Firmly grasp it."

"Pregananant."

5/7

All your base?

My kid definitely uses it.

Actually the oldest I know of might be "23 skidoo" or maybe the word "O.K.", but not sure if those qualify as memes. Although if "6 7" qualifies, then they do too.

In Germany there is/was a meme that even predates the popular use of Internet or at least it already existed in the mid 90s. It's called Bielefeld conspiracy and it's simply about doubting or negating the existence of the german city.

I just found out there even is an english wikipedia entry about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_conspiracy

Stylized S.

I think I first saw this on 4Chan circa like 2005? It lives rent free in my head.

I think NT era?

Btw, what was this show again?

Leeeerooooy jenkins!

The OG memes don't even need text.

I cast magic missile at the darkness.

Whenever someone says "badger" I'm likely to say "mushroom mushroom"

All your base are belong to us.

Is quoting Bill Wurtz a meme? I use the term 'weather update' for any time of update

All your bases are belong to us

Understandable, have a nice day.

this one is like pre-livejournal.

It's over 8000!

I'm just commenting here because every single popular post I commented on this community was magically deleted several days later and I'm too lazy to go parse the modlog to see if its mods being dumb or people deleting their own posts for no reason.

EDIT:

Risitas will always be funny

Pre memes we had movies like Billy Madison and Tommy Boy. Those quotes are permanently part of my vocabulary. "Stop look at me swan", Housekeeping. You want mint for pillow?".

The oldest actual meme/Internet thing I regularly reference is "here is the earth, round" or "the cheat is grounded "

You have no chance to survive, make your time.

thatsthejoke.jpg

Usually gaming online or when I think about how psychopathic and hateful our current government.

:-)

I remember a time before emoticons and we'd say stuff like *g* for grin. But I don't use those anymore. And I never adopted emojis. So that narrows down when my brain calcified.

Ceiling cat, trogdor, “drop a train on them”

milhouse is not a meme

but milhouse is not a meme is a meme

Ea-Nassir. For some weird reason, it seems to come up in conversations about fanart.

OK

It's literally an insider joke meme from the 1800's.

Verbal memes count? I still say "I am Audi 5000" or "Peace in the Middle East ✌️" when I am leaving. The latter being pretty sad that it is still relevant today from the day I stated using it.

It's got to be the helicopter dog.

Mr T Ate My Balls, a member of the Ate My Balls Webring

kids today don't know what a webring even is

Play him off keyboard cat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK7CVqbtW0A&t=26

If you want to go oldschool you gotta specify whether you’re speaking of memes or image macros. Also the best meme is that Millhouse is not a meme.

I love that the fediverse has gifs and images.

I cannot really remember what is the oldest, but a lot of old Team Fortress 2 gm videos, live rent free in my head, and I quote them (especially just the weird noises) all the time. And I still follow the creators, that make new ones. It has evolved into a full genre over the years.

//Edit
I went and dug through my playlists. This is "only" 10 years old, but I think it summarizes well, both the absurdity of them, and how far from the actual game, the genre is.

https://britneyspears.ac/lasers.htm

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!

God we're old. One day this will be the meme someone's late grandpa once showed him.

Whenever someone turns to look behind them, I turn them into a pillar of salt.

It's just this fun thing I do.

Boom Headshot

kilroy

"makin copies"

"Bye Felicia 🙄" Friday (1995)

ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY

same as last time this was asked:

nihil nova sub sole

The missile knows where it is, at all times. It knows this, because it knows where it isn't.

That'll do (pig), that'll do (for now)

I quote old episodes of SpongeBob at least 3 times a day

the oldest for me is the lotr one about the gif: "the meme can not be destroyed by any power we have here". i still got this via cd, because Internet wasn't so much of a thing yet.

I unironically still say yolo all the time

I could not find a cave art meme, so I will go with this one.

Maybe she's just Canadian.

Something has to trigger my memory, but there are things in my head that are easily pre-Internet. There might even be a couple that are from before my own existence passed down from my parents.

The question is then whether I let them escape my head and I'm not sure where the dividing line on "still use" is.

For example, and I don't know why this one in particular, "Nice one, Cyril" is older than I am, and exists in my head, but I don't post it anywhere online either in earnest or sarcastically because no-one would understand it. But my head uses it occasionally.

The oldest meme I still quote is aggressively Brazilian (the link is a reupload, this is from like 2001)

The oldest international meme that still gets some space in my memory is probably either Over 9000 or This is Sparta.

duckjob.wav

OK.

(Oll Korrekt)

Kilroy was here

https://youtu.be/KDRAhiBtOrQ

(fnord)

Regional to Uruguay and Argentina but old as fuck.
He says "If you don't have faith in me..." context goes a long way

https://youtu.be/psMMKgvpGfg

I don't use any memes.

XD