About

Aw TYSM is a slang expression and catchphrase commonly used in a series of memes in which someone mistakes the phrase "aw TYSM," meaning "aw, thank you so much," for the word "autism," as "aw TYSM" would sound if spoken phonetically. The joke was popularized on TikTok in June 2021 by user @jax.mp4 and gained viral spread over the following years, inspiring further videos, memes and image macros using the phrase "aw TYSM."

Origin

On June 4th, 2021, TikToker^[1] @jax.mp4 posted a now-deleted comedy video in which he presents a fake text conversation with his crush where he mistakes her message "aw tysm" as her claiming he has autism, garnering over 2.7 million likes before it was deleted (reupload shown below).

Spread

The meme spread over the following years. On June 5th, 2021, iFunny^[2] user LargeBoi6669 posted a fake text exchange making the same joke, garnering around 30 smiles in two years. On December 2nd, 2022, Redditor u/aar1794 posted a version of the couple texting in bed meme using the joke to /r/me_irl,^[3] garnering over 43,000 upvotes in two years (shown below).

On October 9th, 2023, TikToker^[4] @smallwangchang posted a video making a similar joke, garnering over 1.1 million views in a month (shown below, left). On October 11th, TikToker^[5] @officialkalebhutchins made the same joke with slightly different wording, garnering over 6.5 million views in a month (shown below, right).

Told this girl she looked pretty this morning. She replied back with "aw tysm." How tf she know I have that?

On October 13th, TikToker^[6] @thebrycedeloach posted a video with the same caption, garnering over 13 million views in a month. On November 6th, X^[7] gimmick account @wildtiktokss posted a screenshot of the video, garnering over 70,000 likes in under 24 hours (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References