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What Are 'Freaky Memes'? The Ironic Papyrus Font Trend About Being A 'Freak' Explained
Freaky memes have taken over Instagram and Twitter / X over the past several months. Freaky apps and characters are sticking their tongues out, letting you know that they're "a freak FR."
What started as a Hood Irony trend on the Papyrus side of Instagram's Explore page has since budded into its own meme. Mostly written in cursive like "𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴" and "𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂," creators add a tongue emoji (👅) to fully embody the lewd vibe.
Although many people have come across these freaky memes, many don't know where they came from. Let's explain.
Where Did Freaky Memes Come From?
What's now known as the meme trend "Freaky 👅" started on Instagram late last year when a little-known meme page named @yocrizp posted an alien (from the 2011 movie Paul) with text reading, "Im fr a freak Just lmk.."
Paul is seen smiling, implying some type of flirtatious behavior, in turn, dubbing himself "a freak." Plus, the words "New York" are visible — evidence of the "New York" Instagram filter, seemingly added by the meme creator to make the whole composition look low-brow and deep fried.
What Are Some Freaky Meme Examples?
The words "freak" and "freaky" started to take form in memes going into this year, spirling into their own visual language as the idea of something being "𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂" implied a hilariously over-sexualized parody of the subject involved.
For instance, a big part of the "Freaky 👅" meme trend involves freaky versions of apps and video games, like Fortnite's deranged alternative "𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂nite," as shown in one viral X post.
The tongue emoji also became synonymous with the trend, sometimes only represented by a person sticking their tongue out, like "Freaky Joe Biden," seen in a different post from this year.
What's Papyrus Irony?
"Freaky 👅" memes fall under the umbrella category of Papyrus Irony due to their frequent usage of the Papyrus font. What was originally the font used in Avatar has since become the new Impact thanks to a small group of Instagram and TikTok users who started using it last year.
Papyrus Irony memes are usually screenshotted at skewed and badly cropped angles. Then, they're somewhat deep-fried with Instagram filters, like the now famous Rio De Janeiro filter.
For the full history of Freaky 👅, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.
