I Wish I Was a Cat, No School, No Works, Just Meow Meow

About

I Wish I Was a Cat, No School, No Works, Just Meow Meow is a catchphrase popularized in a series of memes including image macros alongside images of cats. The phrase was first posted to Facebook in January 2021 and spread over the following year to sites including Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.

Origin

It is unclear where the phrase was first used, but variations of it started to appear on Twitter^[1][2] with increasing frequency throughout 2020. On January 25th, 2021, Twitter^[3] user @chakabeels posted, "i wish i was dinosaur. no school, no works. just ror ror," garnering over 71,000 likes in just under two years. That day, Twitter^[4] user @jonnahcrpz quot retweeted @chakabeels' post, writing, "I wish I was a cat. No school , no works. Just meow meow," the first known use of the exact phrase (shown below).

On January 26th, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @RY4N1975 posted the exact phrase, "i wish i was a cat , no school no works just meow meow," garnering over 663,000 likes and 200,000 retweets in just under two years (shown below). This is the first notable viral instance of the phrase.

Spread

On January 29th, 2021, Facebook^[6] page S e n p a i あい posted an image macro using the phrase, garnering over 25,000 reactions and 15,000 shares in just under two years (shown below, left). On February 26th, Instagram^[7] user casual.nihilism posted the same meme with an Albert Camus quote attached, garnering over 5,800 likes in shortly under two years (shown below, right).

On October 3rd, TikToker^[8] @zelnetolig02 posted a video of a cat on a swing under the caption, garnering over 1.1 million views in a year (shown below). The TikTok gained viral spread as a screenshot on other platforms. Notably, it was posted by Instagram^[9] page cat.attacked on October 14th, garnering over 221,000 likes in a year and to /r/MEOW_IRL^[10] on May 3rd, 2022, garnering over 10,000 upvotes in six months.

On June 12th, Facebook^[11] page Cats on Cocaine. posted an edit of the screenshot replacing "just meow meow" with "just violent impulses," garnering over 9,600 shares and 12,000 relations in five months (shown below, left). On August 7th, the Instagram^[12] page booksofbrilliance posted a now private tweet sharing an alternative version of the phrase, garnering over 77,000 likes in three months (shown below, right).

On August 23rd, a new version of the meme was posted to /r/animemes,^[13] garnering over 5,300 upvotes in three months (shown below). It was reposted by Twitter^[14] user @WholesomeMeme on November 16th, garnering over 377,000 likes and 81,000 retweets in two weeks.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References