About

"Buying GF" is an ironic expression indicating an interest in purchasing a girlfriend within the MMORPG Runescape for in-game currency.

Origin

In many online games, players advertise their willingness to purchase in-game items in trade channels or populated areas. According to a post in the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[1] subreddit, players in the game Runescape often had in-game girlfriends which many speculated were actually men masquerading as women to scam users for gold and items. The "buying gf" expression was subsequently invented as a joke to mock the online relationships.

Spread

On April 24th, 2013, Redditor derione1 submitted a cropped Runescape screenshot featuring an armored avatar with the expression "Buying gf" over his head to the /r/gaming^[4] subreddit, where it received upwards of 2,200 votes (93% upvoted) and 1,300 comments (shown below). On May 21st, the screenshot was reposted on FunnyJunk.^[3]

On August 22nd, 2014, YouTuber Joe Redfurr uploaded a Runescape montage parody video titled "Buying GF 1M" (shown below, left). On October 24th, Body Building Forums^[5] member 7thbrah reposted the screenshot on the site's misc board. On May 25th, 2015, YouTuber ToddTalks uploaded a video titled "Buying GF," featuring footage of himself in public wearing a T-shirt with the expression printed on the front (shown below, right).

On July 28th, Redditor PencilErection posted a photograph of a person cosplaying the armored avatar from the "buying gf" screenshot to the /r/gaming^[2] subreddit (shown below). In the first 48 hours, the post gained over 4,800 votes (88% upvoted) and 510 comments.

Search Interest

External References