Recently, a catchphrase has begun spreading in image macros reading, "Calm Down Edgelord, It's Called Wholesome Humor." The meme is usually preceded by the phrase "Turn the 'r' in 'rope' into an 'h.'"

In the past six weeks, dozens of images featuring the phrase suddenly appeared online. So, what's going on here? Let's explain how this reverse meme emerged.

Where Does The "It's Called Wholesome Humor" Meme Come From?

The phrase first appeared on Reddit in late September 2024 featuring a picture of Superman in the Take It Easy, Globehead template. The meme suggests turning "rope" into "hope" is an example of wholesome humor, which have been a staple of memeing since roughly the mid-2010s.

Wholesome memes generally present as reaction images or macros and got their start as a counter to mid-2010s nihilistic memes with negativity at the heart of their humor.

What Came Before "It's Called Wholesome Humor"?

The meme is itself a reference to a previous template called "Relax Liberals, It's Called Dark Humor." If you don't know the template already, you might think that it was a conservative-leaning meme featuring non-PC jokes. Instead, it was more like "DON'T remove 'ine' from 'Fine Art.' Relax liberals, it's called dark humor."

@fatherdimm now read that 4000 times backwards in Brazilian portuguese #fyp #dujta #help ♬

This in itself was already a parody of conservative comedians who attract attention by saying non-politically correct things for shock value rather than more artful jokes.

So basically, the "Calm Down Edgelord, It's Called Wholesome Humor" meme is an inverse meme of a meme that itself was already an ironic parody. With this many layers of irony we may soon reach the fabled Succ nirvana.

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For the full history of It's Called Wholesome Humor, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.