I See What You Did There

About

“I see what you did there” is a common phrase used in spoken English, text, and Image Macros, generally to convey a condescending or patronizing tone as a reponse to a banal joke. However, the phrase is sometimes also used to convey a genuine admiration for another person’s wit, or even as a threatening message akin to “I know what you did.”

Use

Acknowledging/Patronizing Wit

In the patronizing sense of the phrase, an image of the character Fry from Futurama is often used to more clearly portray the lack of sincerity. Fry’s character is known for being less than clever.

Accusation

Alternatively, the accusatory tone is often conveyed through images with a facial expression of shock or condemnation. This image of a pelican gets the message across.

Google Insights

Although common use of this phrase has been around for years, searches for the phrase began showing up in mid 2005. This is likely due to use of the phrase in many image macros.

Earliest Sightings

A precise online origin for this phrase has yet to be found. Some early uses prior to the start of the search trend include:

• The Ultimate Jujitsu Forum in July of 2003.
• The b3ta.com forums in 2004.
• Pbnation.com in 2004

4chan

The phrase “I see what you did there” is so popular with 4chan, that the phrase shows up in over 24,000 threads on 4chanarchive.org