About

“Et Tu Brute?” is a Latin phrase meaning "And you, Brutus?" or "You too, Brutus?", purportedly as the last words of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar to his friend Marcus Brutus at the moment of his assassination. The quotation is widely used in the English-speaking world to signify the utmost unexpected betrayal by a person, such as a friend.

Origin

According to Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" ^[7] , the phrase “Et Tu Brute” was created in 1599. However, there is no historical evidence that the real Caesar actually said these words.

Regardless, the quote remained culturally relevant over the following centuries as a staple quote in European literature and pop culture that encapsulates one's surprise at betrayal from a friend.

Spread

The quote has had some spread in use as a meme. On July 20th, 2013, deviantArt user ishthuyokkay^[4] posted a photograph of two men with the caption “Et Tu Brute” (shown below). Over the next 2 weeks, the post gathered 1,000 favorites.

On August 7th, 2013, ICanHazCheeseburger User^[3] user I<3Cats posted a picture of 2 cats with a caption"Et Tu Brute?", which gained over 8,000 votes in 3 months. (shown below).

On August 14th, an Imgur user posted a picture of Pepe accompanied by the caption “Et Tu Pepe?” (shown below). The picture received more than 300 upvotes.

On August 24th, 2013, the Jared Thinks posted a “Et Tu Brute” video, which gained over 58,000 views in 2 months. ^[1]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References