About

#ThanksgivingClapback, also known as "Thanksgiving Clapback, refers to a series of insulting responses shared on Twitter to passive-agressive comments made by family members at Thanksgiving dinner.

Origin

The earliest known usage of the "#ThanksgivingClapback" hashtag was posted on November 24th, 2015 by Twitter ^[1] user @kashmirVIII tweeted, "Your Aunt Netty askin bout your love life? Ask her how she been holdin up since the divorce. #ThanksgivingClapBack." The tweet received more than 200 retweets and 340 likes in three year (shown below).

Spread

That year, Twitter users continued to post clapbacks. Twitter^[2] user @MormonBeKnowing tweeted, "Family member: 'what your grades looking like?' Me: 'what your credit score looking like?' #ThanksgivingClapBack." The tweet received more than than 6,800 retweets and 6,000 likes in three years (shown below, left). Twitter^[3] user @jay11adams tweeted, "Aunt: Where ya lil friend ? Me: where ya lil wedding ring?" The tweet received more than 4,600 retweets and 3,700 likes in three years (shown below, center). Twitter^[4] user @LexUpNext tweeted, "Aunt: You know tattoos are a lifetime commitment. Me: but your marriage wasn't." The tweet received more than 12,000 retweets and 12,000 likes in three years (shown below, right).

On November 25th, 2015, BuzzFeed ^[5] published a listicle of Thanksgiving Clapbacks.

The trend also inspired a series of YouTube videos that featured short comedic sketches acting out clapbacks. One posted by YouTuber Jay Nedaj on November 7th, 2017 received more than 58,000 views in one year.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References