About

Erm… What the Deuce refers to a series of reaction images expressing surprise and confusion. Originally a catchphrase of Stewie Griffin from Family Guy, the trend gained popularity on iFunny in early October 2021 after a reaction image of actor and director Clint Eastwood captioned with it went viral.

Origin

In the Family Guy animated television series, the character Stewie Griffin often exclaims "what the deuce?" when he is surprised, with the phrase widely recognized as one of the character's catchphrases (compilation video shown below). "Deuce" is a euphemism for "devil."

Prior to September 9th, 2021, an unknown iFunny user posted an image macro of Stewie captioned, "Erm… What the Duece?" (post no longer available, Reddit^[1] reupload shown below). The image was then used as a reaction comment on the app.

Spread

Through September 2021, several macros captioned with the phrase were posted by iFunny^[2][3] users (examples shown below, left and center). Prior to September 30th, 2021, iFunny user Chungite commented "Erm…what the deuce" on a post, with iFunny user Eivor reportedly posting a screenshot of that and the post, since banned, going viral.

On September 30th, 2021, iFunny^[4] user Kaner posted a What the Deuce reaction image based on a black-and-white photograph of actor and director Clint Eastwood, which had been previously used in the Any Adult Male Who X Needs to Immediately Turn In His Man Card meme format popular at the time. The post gained over 5,000 smiles in nine months (shown below, right).

The image was widely used as a reaction comment on iFunny, assisting the spread of the meme on the app. Starting in early 2022, users on iFunny posted both edits of the Clint Eastwood reaction image and image macros based on other imagery. For example, on October 7th, 2021, iFunny^[5] user TraitorousSaiyan posted an edit of the macro that gained over 70 smiles in eight months (shown below, left). On November 17th, iFunny^[6] user ScheatyV3 posted a Plankton version that gained over 7,000 smiles (shown below, center). On December 14th, iFunny^[7] user 8BallCypher posted a The Amazing World of Gumball version of the meme that received over 1,000 smiles in six months (shown below, right).

The reaction format maintained its popularity on iFunny in 2022, with the images also spreading to Twitter, Instagram and other social media through reposts.

Related Memes

Erm, What the Sigma?

Erm, What the Sigma? also known as Um, What the Sigma? refers to a viral audio with a voice resembling Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants saying "What the sigma?" The catchphrase riffs on the precursor Erm… What the Deuce. The original video spread on TikTok in early 2024, recording a person's Instagram voice message.

Any Adult Male Who X Needs to Immediately Turn In His Man Card

Any Adult Male Who X Needs to Immediately Turn In His Man Card is an image macro pairing a photograph of actor and director Clint Eastwood with a caption that states that if an adult man does a certain thing, he should no longer be considered a man and "turn in his man card." Originally posted in 2016, in 2021 the image gained popularity as source material for post-ironic recaptions on iFunny.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References