2020 Can't Get Any Worse

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About

"2020 Can't Get Any Worse" refers to a series of memes used to describe how the first three months of the year were filled with negative, disastrous events, including tension between the U.S. and Iran, WW3, the coronavirus outbreak, etc., and that the prediction for April will be something even worse. The theme was primarily seen on Reddit and Twitter, but was widespread around the internet in March 2020.

Origin

Although the first meme to use the phrase “April 2020” as a prediction for the next apocalyptic event is unknown, users online began making predictions for the month as early as February 2020, when it became apparent that March would largely revolve around the COVID-19 outbreak. One such example was posted on February 29th, 2020, by Redditor^[1] Jackmcswag22 to the r/memes sub. Uploaded under the title “Ok it's happening, and we have to adapt” the meme (shown below) received nearly 43,000 upvotes and 330 comments.

Spread

The theme of April 2020 continued to spread in March as users from other social platforms and websites began joining in. On March 16th, 2020, Twitter^[2] user ryan xavier posted a tweet where April 2020 featured Naruto’s “Almighty Push” looming on the horizon. The tweet (seen below) received over 1,000 retweets and 2,300 likes.

There’s no way 2020 can get worse

April : pic.twitter.com/HtkCa699gI

— ryan xavier (@rxmfh0) March 16, 2020

Redditor^[3] Oofsworth posted another meme on March 15th, 2020, depicting the April 2020 prediction as the Wither Storm from Minecraft. The meme (shown below) was upvoted over 39,000 times and awarded multiple Reddit awards.

On March 16th, 2020, Twitter^[4] user secretlyyourfather used a clip from the 2005 sci-fi movie War of the Worlds showing a tripod, also known as a Fighting Machine, invading Earth. The tweet (seen below) received over 10,000 retweets and 23,000 likes.

"2020 sucks! It can't possibly get any worse"

April: pic.twitter.com/jYj7uM0gw8

— secretlyyourfather (@despawnedfather) March 16, 2020

The meme began to see an uptick in use on Reddit in mid-March 2020, seen in an example from Redditor^[5] CapnChiknNugget to the r/dankmemes sub on March 17th, 2020. The post (shown below) uses a shot from the 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War, specifically when the Q-Ship invades NYC. The meme was upvoted nearly 37,000 times.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References