Samuel Johnson Reading
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About
Samuel Johnson Reading refers to a reaction image featuring a 1775 painting of English writer Samuel Johnson reading with a confused look on his face. The image has been used since early 2012 as part of the What the Fuck Am I Reading? meme, which focuses on people and characters who appear disturbed or perplexed by the contents of a book. Samuel Johnson's meme has also been parodied, redrawn and turned into other memetic formats.
Origin
On March 17th, 2012, FunnyJunk[1] user mugglemasher uploaded a picture of a 1775 painting of English writer Samuel Johnson reading with a confused look on his face, along with the caption "Dafuq did I just read?" (shown below).
Spread
Many other edited variations of the painting have circulated online, typically used as reaction images to express disgust or bewilderment. For example, on September 20th, 2020, X[2] user @extra_vertebrae posted Johnson's reading painting as a reaction to how they feel about reading about Space Marine anatomy (seen below). The tweet amassed roughly 76 likes and 1 repost in four years.
On September 18th, 2017, Google released an animated[3] Google Doodle in honor of Johnson's 308th birthday, featuring the iconic painting of Johnson reading a book (shown below).
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] FunnyJunk – Samuel Johnson meme
[2] X – extra_vertebrae
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