12 Memes That Got Me Through 2020

2020. What a year…

We can all agree it’s been a little rough, yeah? And I truly believe humor is the only saving grace that got me through this year full of disappointment. Let us raise a glass to the memes that have helped us cope with these hard times.

$8 Round Trip

One of many memes that originated at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Let’s be honest, a ridiculously dirt-cheap trip to a foreign country is almost too tempting, but kudos to everyone who did their part by staying home.

My Parents at Age 24

Good old self-deprecating millennial humor. This meme is easily one of my favorites of the year. Marriage at 24? Very funny, my friend. Many people my age can relate to this feeling that we are failing at life because our parents somehow managed to sort their lives out much sooner than us. Meanwhile, we are wandering around, listless, trying to figure it all out.

My Plans/2020

Another meme poking fun at this dumpster fire of a year. Even better, I found a version of this one that references the widely-loved show Avatar: The Last Airbender. Rest in peace to all the fun plans we had in 2020.

Uno Ultimatum

As if the Uno Draw 4 card is not savage enough. Of course, any sane person would do (almost) anything to avoid a Draw 25 Cards punishment. Other versions of this meme include a command to text your ex, and a command to your dog to show you what’s in his mouth. Rick Astley is NEVER gonna give you up….

Nature is Healing

Yet another Covid-19 meme, meant to be a joke, but I think we are onto something here. There has been substantial evidence that, even in this very short amount of time, a decrease in harmful human activity, such as air travel, has slowed the environmental damage our species is causing this planet. Humans really are the disease.

How the Email Found Me

Why are we still starting emails this way? In this year? I don’t think so. I can’t think of the last time I read this email icebreaker and actually felt as if I was truly doing well. Either way, I appreciate the sentiment. Here’s to hoping an email finds us well sooner rather than later.

Bernie: “I am once again asking”

Bernie Sanders, candidate for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination, was one of countless politicians who received the meme treatment this year. This screenshot was taken from a December 2019 fundraising video, and the meme quickly took off at the beginning of this year. It did not take long for creative folks to put their own spin on it by replacing the word “financial” with others to change the meaning of the phrase. Well done, internet comedians.

Zoom

There are so many great Zoom meme formats and punchlines. This is one of the first ones I saw on Twitter at the beginning of lockdown in America. So many of us utilized Zoom this year for work meetings, attending classes, and socializing with friends and family from quarantine. Cheers to all our awkward Zoom moments!

Karen

This meme pictured above seamlessly combines the Karen meme and the Oof Rock meme. By far one of the biggest internet phenomena this year was the trend of poking fun at (and sometimes flat-out roasting) middle-aged women named Karen. The most identifiable characteristic of a Karen is that she has a specific type of short hairstyle and always asks to speak to the manager.

Tiger King

So….Tiger King. Yeah, that happened. It seems like years ago, but there was a two-week time period in March and April in which the biggest excitement of quarantine life was the ridiculously chaotic Netflix show Tiger King. It was difficult for me to choose one meme to feature here, but ultimately this is one of my favorite, most versatile screenshots from the show.

“if BTS gets Coronavirus…”

Okay, this one doesn’t really qualify as a “meme,” but it is one of my favorite Twitter moments of the year. Anyone who uses the internet these days has probably heard of wildly popular Korean band BTS. And the BTS fan army is nearly as infamous on Twitter as the band itself. While this tweet did irk some fans because they felt it was attacking them, as a fan myself, I personally found it very funny and couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.

Jane Lynch: “I am going to create…”

This meme is a screenshot of Jane Lynch in the television show Glee as she says that she’s “going to create an environment that is so toxic.” This Glee episode is many years old, but the screenshot somehow ended up going viral in 2020 and was used to describe a multitude of toxic environments. And of course it did not take long for the meme to evolve into many hilarious forms.

Thanks for joining me in bidding 2020 an eager farewell. I hope you got a few laughs out of this list — Lord knows we need it.