About

Wife Isn't Home You Know What That Means, also known as Parents Aren't Home You Know What That Means, refers to a viral TikTok trend and catchphrase in which people do things they aren't usually allowed to do at home, like putting their pets on the kitchen counter or car parts inside their house, when the family or partner is around. The trend started in August 2023, resurfacing in February 2024 after a series of posts featuring cats and dogs on top of things went viral on TikTok. Variations of the trend using the original caption with the phrasal template "X Isn't Home You Know What That Means" also appeared online as it spread on social media, replacing the subject with other people.

Origin

The earliest known post of the trend was uploaded on May 26th, 2023, by TikTok^[1] user @alexwisdom5, who posted a video with the caption, "Girlfriend's not home you know what that means." He then shows a transmission car part inside his bathtub (shown below, left), which garnered over 906,000 plays and 197,000 likes in a year.

In August 2023, a new sound on TikTok became associated with the trend, which consisted more of pets and unique animals inside the house. For example, on August 3rd, TikTok^[2] user @simmons5.3 posted a video using the phrase "parents aren't home you know what that means," to show her horse inside her home (shown below, right), which amassed more than 7 million plays and 1.7 million likes in seven months.

Spread

On February 15th, 2024, TikTok^[3] user @kyle.christie posted one of the most viral examples of the trend, which features the kitten "Megatron" on the kitchen counter while his wife is not home. The video (shown below, left) amassed over 60 million plays and 11 million likes in a week. A few days later, on February 19th, TikTok^[4] user @islimoncita posted a similar video (shown below, right) with their cats on the counter, which amassed roughly 8.6 million plays and 1 million likes in four days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References