About

Ref Do Something, also known as Ref Have a Word, refers to a catchphrase that calls upon a referee to interfere in an intense sports moment, jokingly inferring that the ref's effort would be futile. The catchphrase was added as a caption to videos and images of hyperbolic sports clips, like ones from sports animes like Blue Lock. The meme spread on TikTok in early 2025.

Origin

On February 6th, 2025, TikToker^[1] @pinoypins posted a video about a panel in the soccer manga series Blue Lock, gaining over 267,700 likes in a month.

Later on the same day, TikToker rat (@actualrodentt) commented, "Ref DO something 😭🙏," receiving over 16,200 likes in a month (shown below). The comment is currently the first known viral use of the catchphrase.

Also on February 6th, TikToker^[2] @ybgcam5ive posted a video using the catchphrase, showing the same Blue Lock panel highlighted in @pinoypins' video. The video received over 1,700 likes in a month (shown below) and was likely inspired by the TikTok comment.

Spread

On February 12th, 2025, TikToker^[3] @trensixz posted a video of Bowser playing soccer in Mario Strikers, captioned, "Ref, I'm BEGGING YOU, PLEASE DO SOMETHING," receiving over 35,600 likes in a month (shown below).

On February 25th, TikToker^[4] @chibotai posted a video of a basketball ref taking a jumpsuit during a youth game, captioning it, "Ref, PLEASE do your job," with a heartbreak emoji and a dead rose emoji (🥀), gaining over 152,000 likes in a month (shown below).

The memes continued in March 2025, evident in a meme shared by TikToker^[5] @frankoceanfangirl420 on March 26th, showing a Haikyuu!! character giving "backshots," like in the Gojo Backshots meme, captioned, "Ref do something," amassing over 26,300 likes in five days (shown below).

On March 29th, 2025, TikToker^[6] @allhailrex shared a video raving about the Ref Do Something meme, calling it "top tier" in his text caption. Over two days, the video received over 526,600 likes (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References