The best memes of 2024
Memes are becoming an increasingly rare breed on the internet. (Thanks, Elon.)
You see, though Elon Musk — Tesla billionaire and head of X / Twitter — might consider himself a memelord, he's done more than anyone to kill the genre. Musk has fractured the user base from Twitter's halcyon posting days and has generally made the platform less usable, unreliable, more prone to conspiracy, and a less enjoyable place to hang out online. Bluesky, X's chief competition, has taken off in recent months but still hasn't reached Twitter's former ubiquity.
SEE ALSO: From yap to pookie, 2024's most viral internet slang defined
So, in turn, we get fewer good memes. Back in the day, Twitter was the source for all the memes that would eventually spread to Instagram and beyond. TikTok has filled that void to some degree, but it is, by definition, a less centralized platform because of its addictive and incredibly algorithmic FYP.
Still, there are good memes out there. We've collected some of the funniest, best, and most prevalent memes from the year — since we are somehow nearly through all of 2024.
The smoking duck
A duck smoking a joint? Sure, why not?
Yes, a cartoon duck smoking has been one of the biggest memes of 2024. As Mashable's Elena Cavender wrote, it has often been posted with resonant song lyrics or alongside moments of vindication. It makes sense. The duck looks, for lack of a better description, very chill and content. It's nodding and enjoying itself — as if it's saying, "I told you so."
Of course, the meme only grew from there. But it has been a top-tier meme of 2024.
Dune: Part Two memes. Lots of them.
Dune: Part Two has been the year's biggest movie. Therefore, it has inspired lots of memes. Perhaps chief among them were the Lisan al Gaib jokes. This is a mild spoiler, but that was the term given to Paul Atreides in his...let's say, ill-conceived...quest to become a savior. Stilgar, the Fremen character played by Javier Bardem, would yell that out every time Paul did something impressive. And the internet quickly turned it into a meme.
There were other Dune jokes, including lots about that (odd) popcorn bucket, but the Lisan Al Gaib meme stuck around.
Remember Josh wine?
It might've been the most unlikely meme of the year: Josh Cellars wine. It was pretty simple, however. A guy on X bragged about buying Josh wine, and people found the name hilarious online.
So, yes, that was a thing. And you know what...it is funny that there is a wine called Josh. It just is. And it was a good meme.
"Mama, kudos for saying that"
A meme emerged from a mantra from the latest season of RuPaul's Drag Race. That mantra (and meme) was, "Mama, kudos for saying that."
It was a perfect, flippant quip that became a meme.
The quote got inserted into famous film and TV scenes because it's so silly and wonderful. It takes a big moment and makes it hilariously glib.
SEE ALSO: 'Mama, kudos for saying that' is the internet's new favorite reaction
Tinashe gets nasty, and we're all matching freaks.
This is new, but Tinashe's catchy song "Nasty" has created great memes about folks finding (or wanting) a person who matches their freak.
It's a great meme because it's hilarious to point out the people who've had their freak matched.
Hot dog yells! Yes, that was a thing.
There was a period on TikTok when folks would ask someone to share how they would yell out to sell hotdogs in a stadium. Honestly, it seems some people missed out on their true calling. It's as if a whole world of folks had been waiting to be asked that question.
Ayo Edebiri is Irish??
OK, no, the actress from The Bear is not Irish. But she is hilarious and did start a meme about herself by randomly claiming Irishness. The internet, and Ireland itself, ran with it.
SEE ALSO: Is Ayo Edebiri Irish? A guide to the internet's best joke.
A golfer got arrested, and the internet had jokes.
Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer in the world and is currently on a run of winning unseen since Tiger Woods' peak. At the PGA Championship in Louisville, however, he was arrested by a police officer seemingly overzealous in his pursuit of upholding traffic patterns. The internet responded with great memes because Scheffler is about the most milquetoast man in existence and the last person you'd expect to be embroiled in such a situation.
By the way, the charges were dropped.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck became a meme, which could mean nothing.
It's a long-held internet tradition that folks would ship the famous actors and best friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. TikTok got in on the action this year, primarily relying on the phrase "which could mean nothing." That phrase was lifted from an old Lainey Gossip headline about Damon not wearing his wedding ring while hanging out with Affleck. People now use "which could mean nothing" to suggest the two are in romantic love heavily. Fancams and compilations of the two A-listers have been accompanied by "which could mean nothing.
Those TikTok memes traveled elsewhere online, as these things tend to do.
Emptying your bank account for Oasis tickets
Liam and Noel Gallagher, the famously short-tempered brothers who make up Oasis, announced a reunion tour in 2025 after 15 years of feuding. It's a long-awaited tour that many folks thought would never happen. With the consistently staggering prices for stadium tours, many folks online joked about what it would cost to see Oasis before they inevitably break up again.
So much Moo Deng
There was a stretch of time in 2024 where everything, everywhere, focused on a baby pygmy hippo. Moo Deng of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand captured the internet's heart.
SEE ALSO: Why we’re all in love with a little hippo named Moo Deng
She's adorable, always damp, and a bit naughty. The memes were immediate.
Moo Deng got so big that Bowen Yang played her on SNL.
"In da club, we all fam"
TikTok seemingly discovered just how ridiculous and funny (and ridiculously funny, for that matter) Broad City was. A strange, specific quote from Ilana Glazer in the show — "In da club, we all fam" — went viral on TikTok and birthed a meme.
"Very demure, very mindful"
TikTokker Jools LeBron had the world using the word "demure" for a lot of the year. She went mega-viral for her hilarious, creative way of using the phrase to describe her life. Did the word demure then become meme'd and overused into oblivion? Of course. But it was certainly one of the top memes of 2024.
SEE ALSO: 'Very demure' demonstrates TikTok's ability to shape modern language
Hawk Tuah
It's unclear if Hawk Tuah is a meme. But it was such a thing that we included it regardless. In case you were living under a rock, hawk tuah is the phrase viral sensation Haliey Welch used to describe well...spittin' on that thang...during a sexually suggestive street interview in Nashville.
Since then, she's sold merch, launched a podcast (Talk Tuah), and inspired countless jokes and memes.
Holding space...
One final, popular meme surfaced just before 2024 wrapped up. The press tour for Wicked was expansive and produced a funny little meme just as the musical hit theaters. Tracy E. Gilchrist of Out Magazine told stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo that "people are taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space with that and holding power in that."
SEE ALSO: Are you holding space for the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity?'
Gilchrist's tone was so sincere, and the phrasing so particular, that it became a meme.
Sure, 2024 hasn't been the best year for memes. But it has been pretty good — and there's always the hope that 2025 produces meme excellence.
Want more of the best of 2024? Join Mashable as we look back at all the viral TikTok songs, internet slang, movies, hyped-up hardware, video games, scientific discoveries, dating trends, social media apps, and more that have delighted and amazed us this year.
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