Phonetic Translations
Misheard lyrics have been around forever. This phenomena predates the internet; but the internet gave the public a forum in which to share them. The meme surfaced in many disconnected places on the internet because the compulsion to share misheard lyrics is a common human experience.
Advice Dog
Advice Dog is a series of image macros that became popular on 4chan’s /b/ in 2006. A typical Advice Dog depicts a cute puppy’s head against a color-wheel background accompanied by ridiculous instructions.
Since its debut, the series has spawned off several spin-offs, most notably Philosoraptor, Courage Wolf and Socially Awkward Penguin.
Om Nom Nom Nom
Slang, indicating eating. Commonly used is lolcats and similar image macros. It usually translates as, “I am absorbed in eating this” or “OMG this is awesome eats, I’m eating it!”. The phrase is suspected to have it’s origin in the sounds the Sesame Street character Cookie Monster when eating cookies.
Balloon Boy
A 6 year-old boy named Falcon Heene reportedly climbed into a helium-filled balloon which was meant to hover only 20 feet above the ground, but took off. Before a captivated world, news stations tracked the flight of the balloon with video over 8000 feet into the air. A global media frenzy would ensue, with an enraptured Internets audience tracking every move… that is, until it was discovered that Falcon wasn’t onboard at all, and that the whole incident was entirely fabricated by his attention-seeking parents.
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a pitch-correction plugin created by Antares Audio Technologies in 1997. It was meant to subtly correct a singer’s off-key notes, but its usage has expanded far beyond its creators’ intentions, pushed to near art-form status by Internet remix
