629
true
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
http://knowyourmeme.com/episode_icons/medium/missing.png
catch, phrase, lolcat, demotivational, poster, image, shock, gross
2
2007
http://knowyourmeme.com/episode_icons/small/missing.png
http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/1248/original/cannot_be_unseen.jpg?1257471121
http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/1248/thumb/cannot_be_unseen.jpg?1257471121
http://knowyourmeme.com/episode_icons/tiny/missing.png
2009-11-06T01:32:02Z
What has been seen cannot be unseen
submission
http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/1248/square/cannot_be_unseen.jpg?1257471121
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/what-has-been-seen-cannot-be-unseen
48
2010-03-03T18:57:12Z
<h2>About</h2>
<p><strong>“What has been seen cannot be unseen”</strong> is a phrase popularized on the <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/internets">internets</a> to signify a person’s reaction to a shocking revelation of something in an image that one seemingly cannot forget <strong>OR</strong> to shock images and/or videos that one can truly never unsee (ie. <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/goatse">Goatse.cx</a>, <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/2-girls-1-cup">2 Girls 1 Cup</a>, etc.)</p>
<p>The phrase has also been used when pointing out oddities in photos, and design oversights.</p>
<p>Derivatives of this meme often show a seemingly ordinary image on one side and what can’t be unseen (sometimes accompanied by an explanation as to what can’t be unseen if it’s unclear) on the other side.</p>
<p>This meme has also seen some prominence under the <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lolcats">LOLcats</a> category in the form of reaction pictures.</p>
<h2>Origin (Researching!!)</h2>
<p>Nothing of this meme’s origin is known as of the moment except for the fact that interest in this meme started on 2007. “What has been seen” is too broad of a phrase to insist that the meme began on 2004 but its rise come 2007 shows how the phrase became even more popular.</p>
<div align="center">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fig%2Fmodules%2Fgoogle_insightsforsearch_interestovertime_searchterms.xml&up__property=empty&up__search_terms=what+has+been+seen+cannot+be+unseen%7Ccannot+unsee%7Cwhat+has+been+seen%7Cnever+unsee&up__location=empty&up__category=0&up__time_range=empty&up__compare_to_category=false&synd=ig&w=650&h=300&lang=en-US&title=Google+Insights+for+Search&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script></div>
<p>It is also possible that this meme began with this famous feline reaction <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/demotivational-posters">demotivator</a>:</p>
<div align="center">
<p><img src="http://www.dailyhaha.com/_pics/cannot_be_unseen.jpg" alt="" /></p>
</div>
<p>The first uploaded photos for this article all came from a site called <a href="http://cantbeunseen.com/">Can’t Be Unseen</a>.</p>
<p>If you want to help with the research, <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/1-general/topics/535-what-has-been-seen">go to this thread</a>.</p>
1248
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