The Neighbor's Kid

About

The Neighbor's Kid is a phrasal template used in image macros to introduce images of comedically abnormal-looking people or characters. The full text used typically reads, "Mom: 'Go play with the neighbor's kid.' The neighbor's kid:" followed by the image, implying the neighbor kid is too weird to play with. The format first appeared in 2019 and saw increased use throughout 2020.

Origin

On October 8th, 2019, Redditor u/thatboi457 posted an image macro to /r/memes^[1] with text reading, "Mom: 'Go play with the neighbor's kid.' The neighbor's kid:" and an image of a scary character commonly associated with the SCP Foundation fandom, garnering over 100 upvotes in roughly a year (shown below). This is the earliest known image macro using the phrase.

On October 18th, Facebook^[2] and Instagram^[3] meme account Shitheadsteve posted an image macro featuring a variation of the same phrase along with an image of SpongeBob Squarepants as a snail crawling across the ground from the episode "I Was a Teenage Gary,"^[9] garnering over 1,000 shares and 2,400 reactions on the former and 118,000 likes on the latter in a little over a year (shown below), greatly helping to spread the format.

Spread

On December 5th, 2019, Instagram^[4] user @shitheadsteve posted another version of the meme, garnering over 94,000 likes in over a year (shown below, left). On April 4th, 2020, Facebook^[5] page LIT MEME GUY posted another image macro using the phrase and an image of a smoking policeman whose age is hard to determine, garnering over 4,700 reactions and 1,700 shares in a year (shown below, right).

On August 29th, Imgur^[6] user FitzChevalric uploaded an image macro using the phrase with a photo of an angry-looking person with a cowboy hat and machete whose age is also hard to determine, garnering over 98,000 views and 1,700 points in eight months (shown below).

On October 25th, the verified Facebook^[7] page for YouTuber KSI posted a version of the meme, garnering over 2,100 shares and 35,000 reactions in six months (shown below, left). On November 23rd, the official Facebook^[8] page NFL Memes posted a version of the meme, garnering over 2,600 shares and 12,000 reactions in five months (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References