Sad Panda

About

Sad Panda is internet slang used to describe someone who is sad or depressed. The phrase was originally used in the popular animated series South Park and has since been used in pictures, videos and forum posts. It has been commonly used in sentences like “This/That makes me a sad panda”.

Origin

The phrase Sad Panda originated from the South Park episode Sexual Harassment Panda, which aired July 17th, 1999. In the episode, the kids in Mr. Garrison’s class are introduced to the Sexual Harassment Panda in order to learn how to recognize it and prevent it in school. While explaining to the class about sexual harassment, Sexual Harassment Panda describe instances of it, after each saying how is makes him “a sad panda.”

The Urban Dictionary entry for “Sad Panda” was submitted on December 19, 2003.

Sad Panda (n.): An unhappy, disappointed person. The phrase can be traced back to an episode of the cartoon South Park, in which the “Sexual Harassment Panda” teaches the children what is and isn’t sexual harassment. For extra sadness, the “a” in sad is drawn out.

The Mysterious Sad Panda of NYC

Many people have seen a person in a panda suit walking the streets New York City. This mysterious panda is usually spotted near Bowling Green, but has also been seen in Time Square as well as other parts of the city. This figure has been dubbed The Sad Panda, and has made many New Yorkers obsessed with learning his true identity. A website was even created to help them and keep track of his whereabouts, WhoIsThePanda.com.

However, on November 17th, 2009, Michelle Tay (Youtube user mtagliatelle) posted a video claiming to reveal The Sad Panda’s true identity. The videos claims him to be Jialing Chen, age 65. Mr. Chen was supposedly forced out of his job in 2007 when his mother died and had to travel to China to make funeral arrangements. He dresses up like a panda for tips because no one will hire him due to his age. He makes as little as $1 a day but says it is better than sitting at home doing nothing. He does all this so that he may afford healthcare for him and his family. Even with his struggles Mr. Chen claims to enjoy his work and plans to continue until he “can no longer move.” Maybe The Sad Panda isn’t so sad after all.

Popularity

Examples

Real-Time Tweet Results

YTMND

http://sad-panda.ytmnd.com
http://saadpaandaa.ytmnd.com/
http://SadPandaCouey.ytmnd.com/

YouTube