IDK I've Never

About

IDK I've Never and IDK I Haven't refer to a series of snowclone memes in which an uneducated guess is made about the plot of books, films and video games based solely on their name, with the author of the meme then admitting that they have never read, seen or played it. The memes gained notable popularity on Twitter in February 2020, also spreading to TikTok.

Origin

On April 28th, 2019, an unknown twitter user posted the earliest known "IDK I've Never" joke,^[11] writing "the justice league after they save winterfell from thanos or something idk I've never seen star wars" and attaching a still image of a dancing K-Pop band (shown below). Not entirely following the format in the sense that it did not draw the punchline from the name of the series, the tweet received over 6,400 retweets and 18,900 likes prior to being deleted.

On November 8th, 2019, Twitter^[1] user @pqrasite made the earliest known "IDK I've Never" joke based on an uneducated guess about the plot of the 2019 South Korean film Parasite (shown below). The tweet received over 60 retweets and 930 likes in five months.

the parasites entering jessica from illness’ body or smth idk i havent seen the movie pic.twitter.com/pqOuJpqGeG

— menno (@pqrasite) November 8, 2019

On December 28th, 2019, @pqrasite^[2] posted a similar joke about the 2019 film Little Women based on a fish pedicure video posted by TikTok^[3] user @sumeetsigdel5 (shown below). The tweet gained over 20 retweets and 340 likes in three months.

the little women attacking meryl streep or smth idk i havent seen the movie pic.twitter.com/eqgUu13wUm

— menno (@pqrasite) December 28, 2019

The meme format did not see viral spread until on February 22nd, 2020, Twitter^[4] user @thclighthousc coiped @pqrasite's post, gaining over 610 retweets and 5,200 likes in two months.

Spread

Starting on February 23rd, 2020, multiple users on Twitter posted jokes about various films based on the format. For example, a February 23rd joke about Star Wars by Twitter^[5] user @jedimulaney received over 380 retweets and 2,500 likes. A same-day Uncut Gems meme by Twitter^[6] user @strlordx received over 290 retweets and 3,800 likes (shown below), with a significant number of memes being posted between February 23rd and 25th.

the uncut gems coming after adam sandler or something idk i haven't seen it yet pic.twitter.com/o9tNHT2Rdf

— shai (@strlordx) February 24, 2020

On March 2nd, 2020, Twitter^[7] user @chirithee posted a Dancing Triangle meme about The Magnus Archives podcast, gaining over 890 retweets and 2,200 likes in one month and reigniting the popularity of the format (shown below). In the following days, multiple users on Twitter posted memes which utilized the Dancing Triangle "Lose Control" clip; for example, a meme about Mother 3 video game by Twitter^[8] user @libbec_received over 970 retweets and 3,900 likes in one month. A March 13th, 2020, Animal Crossing meme by @rice_deity^[9] received over 836,200 views, 30,500 retweets and 95,300 likes in one month.

magnus when he gets a new archive idk i’ve never listened to the showpic.twitter.com/1BanCHyuPg

— doritos 3D (@chirithee) March 2, 2020

In the following month, the format maintained notable popularity on Twitter, with more humorous clips being used as punchlines. On March 14th, 2020, TikTok user @divine.spark^[10] copied @rice_deity's meme, with the meme format spreading on the app in the following weeks.

Related Memes

Dancing Triangle

Dancing Triangle, also known as Triangulo Bailando, is a computer-generated animation of an anthropomorphic "triforce" triangle from the animated fan-made Legend of Zelda web series The Legend of Zelda: The Light of Courage. Starting in June 2018, the clip gained popularity in memes in which people set the looped animation to different songs. In 2020, the animation, usually paired with "Lose Control" by Missy Elliott, saw a surge in use following a series of viral Twitter and TikTok posts.

Various Examples

the animals when they cross idk i didnt play it pic.twitter.com/YsCs2HVCwY

— rice 🌱 (@rice_deity) March 13, 2020

The attornies when they come out as asexual idk I’ve never played the game pic.twitter.com/SeiKcRaaCO

— 🍰 (@undereyecircle) March 5, 2020

Search Interest

External References