Where Does The 'Wait I'm Goated' Meme Come From? The Catchphrase Explained

The acronym G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) carries a long story in sports, music and the internet. The American rapper LL Cool J is often credited for coining the term, as he released his eighth studio album G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) in September 2000.

However, one of the earliest uses of the term-- by American rapper Common on his 1997 song titled “Real xxxx Quotes”--refers to streetball legend Earl Manigault, who is said, according to Genius, to be the original G.O.A.T.

Moving forward a few decades later, G.O.A.T has been integrated into internet slang culture, gaining variations, memes and new meanings, including the catchphrase Wait I'm Goated.

What Does The 'Wait I'm Goated' Catchphrase Mean?

"Wait I'm Goated" is a catchphrase and a series of puns using the slang term "goated," a variation of the acronym G.O.A.T, made notable because of the Quirked Up White Boy Goated With The Sauce meme (shown below).

Where Does The 'Wait I'm Goated' Meme Come From?

The earliest mention of a person using the phrase "Wait I'm Goated" was an altered Instagram story screenshot posted by Instagram user @throwingfits on June 1st, 2023, which read, "idk how to flirt i done called this goated," and gained roughly 10,300 likes and multiple, cross-platform reposts in two months (shown below, left).

Sometime in June 2023, Instagram user @bug2sick (since deleted) made a back-up account called @waitimgoated123, where they started uploading memes that recaptioned and exploited the aforementioned meme (example via an Instagram repost shown below, right).

How Did It Start To Be Used In Memes?

The phrase "Wait I'm Goated" was most often used as a top caption for images of cute animals like cats, hamsters and goats, also gaining popularity on TikTok, alongside the launch of the "Wait I'm Goated" t-shirt, worn by influencers like Diddybop and Henry Kava. For example, on July 15th, 2023, Instagram^[4] user @slayworldalbania posted a slideshow of "Wait I'm Goated" memes that played with puns, gaining roughly 9,100 likes in three weeks (examples shown below).

On July 22nd, 2023, TikToker @ripdiddybop posted a video wearing a Wait I'm Goated shirt, gaining roughly 1.4 million plays and 189,100 likes in 12 days (shown below, left). On September 29th, 2023, TikTok user @axlethekitty posted a video (shown below, right) of their cat paired with the overlay text "Ask me If I'm goated," which garnered more than 115,000 plays and 23,900 likes in five days.

For the full history of "Wait I'm Goated", be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.