About

Ta Ocupao is an exploitable meme format showing a girl knocking on a locked bathroom door, trying not to pee her pants, while a man on the right sits in the bathroom on the toilet while browsing his phone unbothered. The meme is based on a piece of art created and posted online by Yehuda and Maya Devir in January 2018. The image first became the subject of memes in early 2024, becoming increasingly popularized throughout 2025. One of the most viral versions of the meme replaces the original man in the bathroom with a screenshot from Hollow Knight.

Origin

On January 30th, 2018, Instagram^[1] user jude_devir, the page of artists Yehuda and Maya Devir, posted a piece of artwork showing a woman knocking on the bathroom door, holding back her pee, while her husband sits on the toilet on his phone, saying, "In a minute," garnering over 341,000 likes in seven years.

On January 27th, 2024, Facebook^[2] page Meme a lo pobre posted a meme that replaces the husband on the toilet with a photo of someone sitting in a sofa chair, garnering over 1,200 reactions and 570 shares in a year. The Facebook post description reads, "ta ocupao," meaning "occupied." This is the earliest known meme to use the format.

Spread

The meme garnered viral spread over the following months as people replaced the man in the bathroom with another image.

On February 22nd, 2024, Instagram^[3] user powerofthepudu posted a version of the meme with a pudu on the right half of the image, garnering over 4,100 likes in just over a year.

On April 8th, Redditor u/Antique_Anywhere_181 posted a version of the meme referencing Hollow Knight to the /r/HUEstation subreddit, garnering over 70 upvotes in a year.

On July 21st, X^[4] user @SrLuchoPortuano posted a version of the meme replacing the person in the bathroom with Megatron, garnering over 45,000 likes in a year.

On August 29th, 2024, X^[5] user @KFC_ES posted a version of the meme that gained over 5,000 likes in a year.

On February 2nd, 2025, Instagram^[6] user colectivoindomable posted a version of the meme featuring Blastoise from Pokemon, garnering over 273,000 likes in seven months. On March 26th, Instagram^[7] user chilenos_en_runaterra posted a version of the meme, garnering over 11,000 likes in six months.

On September 4th, X^[8] user @frigosouul reposted the Hollow Knight meme, garnering over 64,000 likes in six days. Later that day, X^[9] user @feydemon quoted the post, writing, "This shit prolly funny as fuck," garnering over 135,000 likes in six days.

Later that day, Facebook^[10] user Krozth posted a version of the meme referencing Silksong, garnering over 17,000 reactions and 3,500 shares in six days.

On September 9th, 2025, X^[11] user @SucumbaGames reposted the meme, garnering over 33,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References