What I Do ๐
Part of a series on What Is You Talmbout? What I Do?. [View Related Entries]
About
What I Do ๐ refers to a reaction and image macro meme featuring nail and makeup artist Jade Nguyen, aka PolishedByJade. The image shows a stylish Asian woman standing with her legs crossed and her hand on her hip, often shown in the format of a blurry Twitter post that reads, "What I Do." The phrase "What I Do" is in reference to a 2019-era Funny Marco YouTube prank video in which he pranks an Asian woman in a grocery store and breaks character after hearing her say, "What is you talmbout?" and "What I do?" in an AAVE accent. The phrase, "What I Do," alongside the images of the Jade Nguyen woman went viral on TikTok in late August and early September 2024, often incorporating a purple heart emoji.
Origin
On May 19th, 2019, Funny Marco posted a comedy video to his YouTube[1] page in which he walked around a grocery store and filmed people's reactions after he told them, "You were hella wrong for what you did."
At the 3:44-minute timestamp, Funny Marco comes across an Asian-American woman, who responds to him by saying, "What did I do?" and "What is you talking about," in a thick Southern or Atlanta accent, causing Marco to break character and tell her he's joking.
The woman's accent is often represented in text as her saying, "What I do?" and "What is you talmbout." The video gathered over 330,000 likes in five years (seen below).
Also in 2024, a blurry reaction image of an Asian woman with the text "what I do" above her began to make the rounds online. The earliest known post of the image is a June 15th, 2021, post by Twitter[2] user @yabbayussy (seen below, left), with X[3] user @RlCKYRAGE posting an AI-enhanced version of the image on July 30th, 2024, gathering over 75,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).
Spread
Various internet users began posting meme edits of the "What I Do" image in mid-2024, including X[4] user @lmp3rfect, who posted a version of the image showing pop star Charli XCX on August 1st, 2024, gathering over 400 likes in a month.
On August 27th, X[5] user @queefbomb posted an edit of the image that read "What I Jew," gathering over 1,000 likes in a week. The user subsequently expanded on this post with an entire thread of "What I Do" edits on August 28th, 2024.
The meme spread to TikTok in late August 2024, with TikToker[6] @chicken.casseroles posting a video editing the "What I Do" meme to make the woman appear to play tennis. The post gathered over 1.8 million plays and over 270,000 likes in a week (seen below).
@chicken.casseroles #whatido #flop #fyp โฌ original sound โ โ๏ธ
More TikTokers latched onto the meme in early September 2024, sometimes overlapping it with the Ellie and Mason House meme that was popularized in August 2024.
For example, TikToker[7] @nmillz1 posted a video jokingly ordering a "What I Do ๐ Latte" on September 3rd, gathering 1 million views and 200,000 likes in a day.
@nmillz1 Mama a coffee behind youโฆ
In early September 2024, a woman named Jade Nguyen[8] came forward as the lady in the Funny Marco What Is You Talmbout meme, as well as the "What I Do" image. Jade posted a TikTok confirming it as her only account on September 3rd, 2024.
@thejadenguyen WHAT I DO ๐ #fyp #whatido #viral #funny #comedy #laborday #jade #whatdidido #funnymarco โฌ original sound โ Jade Nguyen
Various Examples
@lousmult1verse WHAT I DO? โ school starts tmrw ๐ช @Jade Nguyen #whatido #whatidogirl #whatidoedit #aftereffects #edit #vira #jadenguyen #jadenguyenedit โฌ original sound โ ๐ธ๏ธ๐ท๏ธ
@buildsbyb WHAT I DO ๐ #fyp #roblox #bloxburg #whatido #ellieandmasonhouse โฌ XTC Acid โ SOPHIE
@beyoncejustranmeover what i do #fyp #whatido โฌ original sound โ anthony๐ฃ
@sivelius #whatidogirl #whatido #floptok โฌ original sound โ โ๏ธ
Related Memes
What Is You Talmbout?
What Is You Talmbout? also known as What I Do? is a catchphrase often associated with Hollywood and voice actor Awkwafina, although many internet users also associate the phrase with an Asian-American woman featured in a Funny Marco YouTube video. The phrase "What is you talmbout?" as uttered in an Atlanta accent is often used to joke about women of East-Asian origin speaking in an AAVE accent. Another popular quote sourced from the Funny Marco video is "What I do?" In August 2024, an image of makeup and nail artist PolishedByJade went viral in the What I Do ๐ meme trend, prompting Jade Nguyen to come forward as the person featured in both memes.
Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] YouTube โ FUNNY MARCO
[2] X โ yabbayussy
[6] TikTok โ chicken.casseroles
[8] TikTok โ thejadenguyen
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