2
No I Can't Take the Time off Work meme format and template depicting Patrick bateman / Christian bale from American Psycho wearing headphones.

I Can't Take the Time off Work

Part of a series on American Psycho / Patrick Bateman. [View Related Entries]

Updated May 05, 2022 at 06:38PM EDT by Zach.

Added May 05, 2022 at 02:14PM EDT by Philipp.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!

You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.

About

I Can't Take the Time off Work is a memorable quote said by American Psycho protagonist Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale). Starting in July 2020, an image macro based on the scene began seeing use as the source material for memes, with the line "No, I Can't Take the Time off X" used as a phrasal template by replacing the last word via recaptions.

Origin

On April 14th, 2000, the American satire thriller film American Psycho premiered.[1] In one scene of the film, Patrick Bateman's fiancée Evelyn tells him that they should get married, with Bateman refusing her and telling her that he can't take time off work (shown below).



- Patrick, we should do it.
- Do what?
- Get married, have a wedding.
- No. I can't take the time off work.

Prior to June 19th, 2019, Tumblr user s-creenager poster a two-panel image macro based on a scene (post no longer available; shown below). On June 19th, 2019, Facebook[2] page moviefone reposted the image, with the post gaining over 8,000 reactions and 5,000 shares in roughly three years.


Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off work. 5-CREENAGER

On July 29th, 2020, Twitter[3] user @warmfourloko posted the earliest found meme based on the macro, recaptioning it, "No. I can't take the time off Twitter." The post (shown below) gained over 70 retweets and 510 likes in two years.


Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off twitter

Spread

The image macro did not see further use in memes until November 2020. Prior to November 21st, an unknown iFunny[4] user posted another recaption of the image, this time about iFunny (shown below, left). On June 28th, 2021, Tumblr[4] user badscooter posted the first viral version of the image, a joke about busy posting on Tumblr, with the post gaining over 23,800 likes and reblogs in one year (shown below, right).


DO Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off Ifunny DO Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off tumblr.com

More versions of the meme were posted in the second half of 2021, with the format achieving notable virality online in November and December that year along with the general rise in prevalence of American Psycho memes. For example, on December 3rd, 2021, Tumblr[5] user satelliteduster posted a meme based on the image in reply to another post, with the exchange gaining over 54,000 likes and reblogs in six months (shown below).


gotouda h--------. this guy on the bus talking to a girl about how he trades stocks. and she goes "have you seen american psycho" and he said no i dont watch movies. im too busy trading satelliteduster ATE AREEHAGER Have you ever seen American Psycho? No. I can't take the time off trading.

The meme format saw further use online in 2022 as it spread to additional platforms.

Various Examples


WIA Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off Elden Ring DO Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off my ifunny account and tumblr war images blog ATE Da Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. REEHAGER No. I can't take the time off Warthunder CREENAGEA
DO Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off Playing dark souls 2 scholar of the frist sin POV: No. I can't take the time off work. FACEBOOK MODS WHEN THEYRE TOLD TO GO OUTSIDE

Template


Patrick, we should do it. Get married, have a wedding. No. I can't take the time off -CREENAGER

Search Interest

External References

[1] Wikipedia – American Psycho

[2] Facebook – Moviefone

[3] Twitter – @warmfourloko

[4] Tumblr – badscooter

[5] Tumblr – satelliteduster

Related Entries 10 total

Recent Videos

There are no videos currently available.

Recent Images 19 total



+ Add a Comment

Comments (0)

There are no comments currently available.

Display Comments

Add a Comment


'lo! You must login or signup first!