The Meme Textbook Part 2: The Language of the Internet | Page 14

Y U NO
The “Y U NO _” face is inspired by a face in
a panel of Gantz, a manga released in 2002
by Hiroya Oku. (Fig. 23) The meme became
popular in 2009, as a way to express frustra-
tion in something or someone.(Fig. 22) The
verbal format of the meme uses a combination
of shorthand letters to replace words and the
grammar of lolcats, which is to swap the order
of words which is how “why don’t you” becomes
“y u no.” The meme was used expansively to
express frustration from social relationships, to
video games, to simple aggrivations like the taste
in your mouth after drinking orange juice and
brushing your teeth. The meme would also be
combined with other memes, like “Me Gusta”
for the sake of progressive comedy. (Fig. 26)
fig. 21
fig. 22
14 | Part Two: The Language of the Internet
fig. 23