About

Not My Proudest Fap is a catchphrase typically used online (especially on Reddit) under a disturbing or otherwise repulsive piece of media that suggests the poster had just masturbated, or "fapped," to the image or video but feels guilty for having done so. The phrase has inspired online communities dedicated to images that could be interpreted as vaguely sexual but are otherwise disturbing or humorous, similar to "I Can Fap to This." Due to its prevalence on Reddit, it is often included in memes and posts about common "Redditisms."

Origin

The phrase is associated with "fap," a long-running slang term and meme describing male masturbation that originated roughly in 1999. An early use of the phrase "Not My Proudest Fap" was used in an Internet Screamer GIF on Imgur^[1] posted on May 9th, 2014.

Sometime before January 10th, 2017, an edited meme depicting the character Joseph Joestar from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure using the phrase appeared online. The image was uploaded to Know Your Meme on that date, though its Imgur source has since been deleted (censored version shown below).

A question inquiring about "Not My Proudest Fap" moments was also notably posted to the subreddit /r/AskReddit^[3] on July 17th, 2017, as the phrase became more prevalent online that year. The earliest known definition was posted to Urban Dictionary on September 2nd, 2017^[2] (shown below).

Spread

In the latter half of the 2010s and early 2020s, multiple online hubs were created for the purpose of sharing "not my proudest fap" memes. These include the subreddit /r/notmyproudestfap,^[4] which was created on March 5th, 2016, has over 4,800 subscribers as of August 2024, and the Facebook group Not My Proudest Fap,^[5] which was created on May 31st, 2017, has over 14,000 likes and 15,000 followers as of August 2024.

The catchphrase also became a common comment on Reddit to the point where many memes derided the phrase for being overused and unfunny. For example, on October 15th, 2020, a deleted poster in Reddit's /r/dankmemes^[6] posted an image describing the comment as "that one guy on every post," gaining over 44,000 points in four years (seen below).

On July 27th, 2021, Redditor MisterBigBean included the phrase in an ironic starter pack meme about "Reddit jokes that always kill," gaining over 26,000 points in /r/starterpacks^[7] three years (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References