From "elegance" to "lone hero", let's take a look at the most popular Internet memes in 2022

In the blink of an eye, 2022 is coming to an end. This year, many Internet memes have been born under the witness of the majority of netizens. "I really know how to thank", "CPUed...", "Ice Cream Assassin"... In your mind, which one is the most representative annual meme? Tiantianwen has sorted out ten representative Internet memes, let's take a look!

2022 is about to pass. Think back and see if there are many new faces in your catchphrases this year?

When we are left speechless, we in 2022 will say, "I will really thank you."

We in 2022 say, "Damn it, I got backstabbed by the ice cream assassin..."

There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new memes and new jokes every year. This year, many popular online memes were born. Among these memes, which ones are the most representative, and which ones have become a true portrayal of your life? This article collects ten popular online memes in 2022. Let's see if any of these words belong to your exclusive memory of 2022.

Tiantianwen Weekly Selection No. 216: In 2022, what is the most popular "Internet meme" in your mind? (Hyperlink: https://996.pm/MnowX)

Part of the article content comes from the wonderful answers of @大鱼汤海棠@杭州马小胖@阙.

1. Language

There are many interesting catchphrases in 2022. From the words of netizens, we can also see bits and pieces of 2022. For example, the following are the popular online languages ​​that emerged in 2022:

1. I really will thank you

"You told me I had to hand in a PPT the next day after get off work. No way. I'd really thank you."

"I'm really grateful. Why didn't anyone remind me to turn off the microphone during the online class..."

"真的会谢" is the abbreviation of "真的感谢" (I really thank you). Although it contains the word "谢", its meaning is not related to gratitude. Instead, it is full of sarcasm, often expressing speechlessness and dissatisfaction with people or things. This stalk originally came from the catchphrase of the well-known Weibo funny blogger "怨男0", and was later widely used by fans and finally spread widely on the Internet.

As one of the most widely spread Internet buzzwords in 2022, "I'm really grateful" has been played with various subtle interpretations by netizens -

• The Chinese character for “谢” (withered flowers) means withering flowers, and when paired with the emoji “枯衰” (withered flowers), it also means being frustrated and discouraged.
• Paired with the "sweating soybean" emoji, it suddenly became full of embarrassment.
• Linked with the related stalks such as "Shuan Q" and "Listen to me say thank you", the word "thank you" even conveys the meaning of "repaying kindness with enmity".

The phrase "I'll really thank you" has been played out in many different ways. It has to be said that modern netizens have become more and more proficient in being sarcastic. I'll really thank you. Without this, would 2022 still be the hottest word of the year?

2. Big Enemy

"I took the high-speed train without my ID card. I had to take a taxi for 200 yuan to get my ID card for a 170 yuan ticket. I was the one who got hurt."

This year, a word stands out from many dialects and becomes the spokesperson for surfing life in 2022, and that is "big enemy".

The word "Yuan Zhong" comes from the Northeast dialect, referring to people who are unhappy because they have been wronged. Initially, some Northeast bloggers used this word to mock themselves in short videos, or to describe some unpleasant experiences in life. Later, "Da Yuan Zhong" was widely spread by netizens and gradually extended to mean "people who have done stupid things."

For a time, everyone could be a "big enemy". Every time I open my Moments, I see people complaining about their "big enemy" experiences - encountering cockroaches in the middle of the night and spending 20 yuan to buy cockroach medicine; ordering takeout for a girl I'm dating online and finding out the other person is a big man; pushing a bicycle uphill for a kilometer after work... Well, everyone has some "bad enemy" experiences in life.

3. Elegance

"Elegant, so elegant."

Everyone is familiar with the word "elegance", but in 2022, it has been given a new meaning by netizens.

The "elegant" plot originated from the popular new anime "Spy Play" in the first half of this year. In order to conquer the school warden, the protagonist's family had to remain calm and composed at all times, which made people exclaim "elegant, so elegant!" The word "elegant" has therefore become synonymous with "staying calm and steady in all kinds of outrageous situations" and has appeared in the barrage of various videos.

The word "elegance" is originally closely related to high-end, exquisite, and elegant. With the constant use of memes by netizens, it also has some contrasting comedic meanings:

• In the pouring rain, the soaked blogger held the red wine glass in his hand and calmly tasted the wine - elegant, so elegant!
• The school was closed due to the epidemic, and the dishevelled college students were learning from bloggers how to make exquisite breakfasts in their dormitories - elegant, so elegant!
• She bent down to carry two boxes of mineral water and then lifted her skirt like a cheongsam girl - so elegant, so elegant!

The popularity of the word "elegance" was of course initially due to the pursuit of beautiful things that are elegant and calm. Looking at the video of a girl dancing with prosthetic limbs, the screen is full of "elegance". Who can not praise it!

Of course, there are also some hilarious dramatic contrasts later, such as labeling some lifestyle bloggers' slightly artificial and exquisite videos as "upper class", and conversely labeling other crude imitation videos as "elegant".

The widespread "elegant" imitation of them may also be netizens' pursuit and expression of a simple life.

2. Social Hot Topics

This year's major social events have also spawned many new memes that netizens love to play with. Let's take a look at the annual hot topics.

1. Lone Warrior

In 2022, a very mysterious code appeared in kindergartens and primary schools across the country:

"Love you walking alone in a dark alley?"

"I love the way you refused to kneel; I love the way you faced despair and refused to cry!!"

It is said that no matter where they are, as long as someone starts, primary school students on the scene can immediately sing "The Lone Hero". Even the editor has encountered children singing praises at the top of their lungs in the opposite cable car when traveling.

This divine song, "The Lone Warrior", which is engraved into the DNA of primary school students across the country, is the theme song sung by Eason Chan for League of Legends' "Two Cities" in September 2021. It was originally only circulated in a small range in the e-sports and gaming circles. This year, it swept the vast number of primary school campuses across the country with its extremely positive lyrics and became a "divine song" that every primary school student can sing.

The song was immediately loved by primary school students due to its passionate lyrics, catchy punctuation, and melody that was very suitable for children's "roaring singing style". Wherever there are primary school students, they can sing "The Lone Brave Man".

"The Lone Brave Man" is well-deserved to be the "national children's song" of the year.

2. Digging wild vegetables

"If we don't break up now, you might get dragged out to dig wild vegetables."

The "digging wild vegetables" stalk originated from a TV series many years ago. In the 2012 version of "Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan", Jessica Hsuan played Wang Baochuan, a love-brained woman who waited for Xue Pinggui for 18 years in the cold kiln and even went to the mountains to dig wild vegetables to eat. In the end, Xue Pinggui married someone else and only got back an 18-day queen experience card. "Digging wild vegetables" has thus become a synonym for "love-brained".

On social platforms with many female users, such as Xiaohongshu, many sentences like this have gradually appeared under posts about love troubles:

• "Stop talking. I'm digging wild vegetables."
• "If you don't, you might get dragged out to dig wild vegetables."

Wang Baochuan has also gone from being a representative of faithful love to being a "love dissuading guru". Even Jessica Hsuan, who plays Wang Baochuan in the drama, posted on Weibo: "Love is sweet but I hope girls don't lose themselves."

Some netizens commented that it is an overreaction for modern people to satirize an ancient person's view on love. However, the popularity of the "digging wild vegetables" meme does reflect the change in the love view of contemporary young people - from "staying in the cold kiln to dig wild vegetables" to cherishing oneself. Behind the "digging wild vegetables" meme lies the attitude of many young people towards their emotional life in 2022.

3. XX Assassin

"I picked up an ice cream from the counter and found out it was the Ice Cream Assassin when I checked out."

"Ice cream assassins" refer to those "expensive ice creams" in convenience store freezers that may seem plain, but are actually priced far beyond consumers' expectations, hurting consumers' wallets when they check out. "Ice cream assassins" represented by Zhong Xue Gao have caused widespread discussion on the Internet this summer, and even spawned "fruit assassins" and "cake assassins".

All kinds of products whose prices do not match the actual product are labeled as "assassins". "XX assassin" has thus become a synonym for those who are silent but will "stab us in the back" at the unexpected moment:

• When I went to the cafeteria to eat, there were new dishes that looked very cheap, but when I paid the bill it turned out to be 38 yuan per portion - cafeteria assassin!
• I was walking on a plain cobblestone road on a rainy day, and poof! There was a puddle under one of the cobblestones, splashing mud all over my trouser legs - puddle assassin!
• Ordinary Chinese mini puddings sold on the roadside, 3 for 60 yuan when you scan the QR code at checkout - Dim Sum Assassin!

Being backstabbed by various "assassins" is certainly a good way to find joy in misery. This meme also witnessed the various unlucky and somewhat funny moments in the lives of netizens. Damn, I was backstabbed again today!

3. Workplace

Many of this year's hot words were born in the workplace. Let's take a look at what new memes workers are using this year.

1. Tanking

"Whatever you want, go ahead."

"I can't roll up, and I can't lie down. What should workers do with their lives? Just let it go. It's already like this anyway."

The term "tanking" first came from the NBA. In order to rank at the bottom and get a high draft pick, some weak teams chose to play with a bad lineup to the end. This behavior was called "tanking" by fans, which means letting things develop in a bad direction and throwing in the towel.

However, the team can still be said to be playing badly for the sake of the rookies of next season, and the workers who are "playing hard" now seem to really intend to "play badly to the end." Among contemporary workers, "paid shitting" and "naked resignation" are popular. They don't want to work hard, and they are not positive when they encounter promotion opportunities. They just want to complete the standard duties. Rather than spending a lot of effort in the workplace in exchange for a promotion and salary increase that is not commensurate with the effort, workers choose to give up their efforts and return to a life that belongs more to them.

Not only in the workplace, "playing bad" seems to have become a life attitude of contemporary young people. In the "Playing Bad" super topic on Weibo, there are 270,000 "bad people" following this super topic. In order to make it easier for everyone to "play bad", the super topic is specially divided into three sections: "Playing Bad at Work", "Playing Bad at Life", and "Playing Bad at School":

• Working: There is still an hour and a half left before the end of get off work. I’m done with it. Let’s get started.
• Life is like this: I forgot the time for a blind date and decided not to go. Let’s start.
• Going to school: I have too much homework to finish tonight, so I’m not going to study anymore. Let’s go.

In reality, people who are facing various life pressures, through the screen, use "tanking" to complain and find a brief respite from the pressure. As a true portrayal of the living conditions of contemporary people, "tanking" deserves to be one of the top ten hot memes of the year.

2. PUA

"My boss called me in for a talk today. I felt like I was being manipulated."

PUA stands for "Pick-up Artist", which originally means "pick-up artist", which means that some people learn skills systematically and then conduct love fraud on victims. Since such fraud often suppresses and belittles the victims to control their mental behavior, PUA has gradually become synonymous with maliciously belittling, suppressing and slandering others, and even brainwashing.

In the workplace, PUA also refers to the precise suppression of employees' self-confidence by leaders in order to control them. Workplace PUA has become a hot word this year. As people post complaints about their mean and weird bosses, almost every post by workers begins to have accusations or ridicules such as "he is PUAing you".

Later, in order to distinguish this workplace phenomenon from PUA fraud, people nicknamed it "CPU", "KFC", etc., using the three-letter English abbreviation to refer to the boss's difficulties in the workplace.

Some people say that calling PUA "CPU" is an abuse of words and turns a serious topic into entertainment. Others think that this word is very accurate in describing workplace bullying and is harmless. What do you think?

3. Post-00s clean up the workplace

"8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay. I'm a post-00s generation and I won't spoil you."

After talking about PUA in the workplace, let’s take a look at the post-00s who specialize in dealing with bad workplace culture.

In 2022, the first batch of post-00s just turned 22, and it is the time when a large number of post-00s newcomers will enter the workplace. Unlike the post-80s and post-90s who are gradually burdened with family pressure and are becoming more and more "Yi Li Yi" in the workplace, this batch of newcomers in the workplace are particularly sharp. "Refuse mindless obedience, refuse ineffective socializing, and refuse ineffective overtime." is their workplace motto.

Faced with the unspoken "hidden rules" in the workplace, they decisively say no:

• Forced to work overtime when the boss doesn't leave at the end of the workday? It's time to rectify this! Just fire me without overtime pay.
• Is it customary for new employees to buy coffee for their bosses? It’s time to fix this! I don’t do chores outside of my job.
• Still want to attend company team building after get off work? It’s time to sort it out! Sorry, I’m not a sociable person.

This kind of courage and resoluteness to reject the dark side of the workplace has made many netizens excited, and this behavior has also been praised as "post-00s rectifying the workplace." Of course, these sharp behaviors have also been criticized by many people as "low emotional intelligence" and "not smooth enough."

However, every era needs some fresh blood to inject vitality into the outdated contemporary life scenes. It is precisely because the post-00s are not smooth enough, not sophisticated enough, and have "never experienced the beatings of society" that they have the courage to speak out their demands with integrity and ideals in their hearts. The post-00s who are "rectifying the workplace" are still young and have a promising future.

IV. Conclusion

As the year draws to a close, these hot memes have accompanied us throughout 2022 and witnessed the laughter and tears of this year.

People are occasionally hit hard by life, but they still hold their heads high and remain "elegant"; they are often warned by stories about Wang Baochuan "digging wild vegetables", but they still hold a brave heart longing for true love; they say they want to "give up", but they still sit in the office scratching their heads and working overtime; they shout that they want to "rectify the workplace", but they are all stumbling and carefully wading through the first workplace river in their lives.

2023 is already on the way. Perhaps at the next corner, we will meet those children who are “speaking in secret codes” and hear them singing loudly: Who says only those standing in the light are heroes!