Informant Background:

This informant is a sophomore at USC in the Naval ROTC program. Very soft spoken and polite, she grew up in Anaheim California. Considering herself a typical teenager through highschool, she had a fondness for the urban legends that circulated throughout the school.

Informant’s story:

“Well, something popular today that I’m pretty sure everyone knows about are the little faces you can make using the symbols on a key board. There’s like, the normal smiley face with the colon and parenthesis, the surprised face with the colon and capital ‘O’, and a bunch of others. They can be really simple like those or more complex lie [explanation how to make the following face] (^_^). I’ve seen some really complex ones though. Like, full dinosaurs and stuff. I don’t know who has the time and patience to make them, but I just copy and paste them into my Facebook and chat and stuff.”

Analyses:

What the Informant is what is known as “ASCII art”. “ASCII” which stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is essentially source code that changes numbers into other symbols that aren’t numbers, as computers can only accept numbers. These symbols include the entire alphabet, every grammatical symbol, and any other symbol you can put into a text box. There are a total of 128 of these symbols. “ASCII art” is the ability to take these symbols in order to create some form of design. As the informant noted, these designs can be as simple as the classic :), to as complicated as designs spanning several lines, consisting of hundreds of characters. These designs are used primarily as reactions, meaning the design is posted in response to something else that was posted. With ASCII art becoming so common, many separate programs have been designed to recognize these series of symbols to actually create the picture in which the symbols are supposed to represent. These cartoons that replace the symbols are known as “emojis” and are common among such programs as Facebook, imessage, and Kik.

Examples of ASCII art:

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

……(\_/)
……( ‘_’)
…./””””””””””””\======░
/”””””””””””””””””””\
\_@_@_@_@_@_/

……………………………………..________
………………………………,.-‘”……………….“~.,
………………………..,.-”……………………………..“-.,
…………………….,/………………………………………..”:,
…………………,?………………………………………………\,
………………./…………………………………………………..,}
……………../………………………………………………,:`^`..}
……………/……………………………………………,:”………/
…………..?…..__…………………………………..:`………../
…………./__.(…..“~-,_…………………………,:`………./
………../(_….”~,_……..“~,_………………..,:`…….._/
……….{.._$;_……”=,_…….“-,_…….,.-~-,},.~”;/….}
………..((…..*~_…….”=-._……“;,,./`…./”…………../
…,,,___.\`~,……“~.,………………..`…..}…………../
…………(….`=-,,…….`……………………(……;_,,-”
…………/.`~,……`-………………………….\……/\
………….\`~.*-,……………………………….|,./…..\,__
,,_……….}.>-._\……………………………..|…………..`=~-,
…..`=~-,_\_……`\,……………………………\
……………….`=~-,,.\,………………………….\
…………………………..`:,,………………………`\…………..__
……………………………….`=-,……………….,%`>–==“
…………………………………._\……….._,-%…….`\
……………………………..,<`.._|_,-&“…………….`\

……………………………………….. ………………………_,-~”¯¯”~-,
………………………………………….. …………….__„-~”¯¯:::,-~~-,_::::”-
………………………………………….. ……….„~”¯::::::::::::::”::::::::::::::::::::::\
………………………………………….. .__„„„-“::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”~-,
……………………………………__-~”::,-‘:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::~-,
………………………_______~”___-~”::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::: :: :::::::::::”-,
………………….,~”::::::::::::::¯¯::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,: |
………………..:/:::::::::::::::::__-~”:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_,-~”:’\’-,:\:|:\|::\|\::\:|
……………….,’::::::::,-~~”~”_::’,::|::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :::,~ ‘:\’-,::’,”-\::”:”::::::::\|:|/
……………_,-‘”~—-“:::/,~”¯”-:|::|::|:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,~”::\’-,:\;;’-‘;;;;;;;;;;;,-‘::\::|/
…………,-‘::::::::::::::::’-\~”O¯_/::,’::|:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,-‘,::\’-,:|::”;;;;;;;;;;;;,-‘:\:’-,::\
…………|:::::::::::::::::-,_’~’::::,-‘::,’:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,-‘:\’-,:\’-,’;;’;;;;;;;;;;;;;,-‘:\:::’\-,|”
…………|::,-~”::::::::::::::”~~”:::,-‘::::::::::::::::::::::::_,-~’:\’-,|:”‘”;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,-‘¯::’-,:’,\|
………../::/::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_,„-~”¯\:\’-,|;”-‘;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,-‘–,::\-:\:\|
………/::::|:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,-‘;;’-‘;;;;’,/;\/;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,-,|:::\-,:|\|..\|
……./:::::::\:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,-‘;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,-~”'(“-,\:::|\:|::”
……,’:::::::,’::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :,-‘/;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,–‘::::::/”~’
…..,’::::::::|:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,„-~”::|;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,-‘::::::::,’::::/
…./:::::::::|:::::::::::::„—~~””¯¯¯::’,:::::,’;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,’::::::::: :: |_,-‘
..,’::::::::::::”,:,-~”¯::::::::”-,::::::::::|:::/;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,’:::::::|::::,’
./:::::::::::::::|:::::::::::::::::::”-,:::::::\:::|¯¯¯”””~-,~,_/::::::::,’:::/
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”~-,_::|::\: : : : : : |: : \::::::::/:/
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”,:::::::::::::”-‘:::\: : : : : : |: : :\::::::\
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”,:::::::::::::: ::::\: : : : : : \: : : |:::::;;\
::::::::::::::::::”-,:::::::::::::::”,:::::::::::::::/|\ ,: : : : : : : |::::,’/|::::|
:::::::::::::::::::::”-,:::::::::::::::”-,_::::::::::\|:/|,: : : : : : : |::: |’-,/|:::|
::::::::::::::::::::::::”~-,_::::::::::::::”~-,_:::”-,/|/\::::::::::: \::: \”-/|::|
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”~-,__:::::::::::’,”-,:::”_|/\:|\: : : : \::\”:/|\|
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”~-,_:::::\:::\:::”~/_:|:|\: : : ‘-,\::”::,’\
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”-,_:’-,::\:::::::”-,|:||\,-, : ‘-,\:::|-‘-„
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::,-,'”-:”~,:::::”/_/::|-/\–‘;;\:::/: ||\-,
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :/…’-,::::::”~„::::”-,/_:|:/\:/|/|/|_/:|
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |……”-,::::::::”~-:::::””~~~”¯:::|
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |………”-,_::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::\ …………..”~–„_____„„-~~”

Background:

Doge originated on Tumblr when this one picture of this really cute dog with this huge face was given comic sans text over it with poorly grammatically structured phrases over it. Usually these phrases are in different colors and center around a common theme. In this example, that would be about fashion. Usually the format is “much (blank), many (blank), wow” but can have all sorts of other poorly structured phrases. Then it got really popular and spread to 4chan and reddit and all these other sites. I’m pretty sure the first place I ever saw it was Facebook. I don’t know what I like about it. I don’t know what anyone likes about it. It’s just so funny. It’s like… so… I’m trying to find the right word. Like, infantile? … Dumbed down? That it’s just hilarious. There’s something inherently funny when someone says something wrong grammatically, like in everyday conversation with someone, it’s funny when people mess up. So to have a cute dog saying it just works, staring you right in the soul. Something it really capitalized on when it was getting popular was just a really ridiculously high frequency of posts. It got super annoying, but that almost made me love it more.

Context:

There’s actually no specific time this is appropriate. I guess just during sessions where you and your friends are hanging out on your phones showing each other funny pictures.

My Thoughts:

It seems to be that since there’s no specific context for this other than friends hanging out, it’s used as a way to bond in the digital age. I mean, if people are on their phones anyways, it’s a lot easier to connect with people by sharing things that are mutually humorous than trying to make jokes yourself. In this way, the doge meme becomes a sort of social lubricant to facilitate group dynamics, much like alcohol.

Background:

Can I just say the internet? I never went on reddit or 4chan or anything like that, so where would I have seen it? Probably just a stupid comment thread on Facebook or something, back in the day. It’s based on Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory, it’s a screenshot of that, and Gene Wilder is one of my favorite actors. He has such great delivery and great comedic timing, so probably any screenshot you take will be funny. Then the internet kinda owned it cuz in the film, he’s not being sassy in that scene this is a screenshot of, and turned it into this other thing which I think is interesting. Even though this meme has specific uses, I think it’s interesting that it’s adaptable to specific conversations, so it has the same function but keeps changing the words that overlay the image.

Context:

You’re supposed to use it when you’re mocking someone’s complaining, like “Oh you have to do four papers? Your life is so hard.” Or like demeaning someone who thinks their life is important. I guess I just mean the meme has gotten such specific usage in conversation it’s essentially become it’s own recognizable phrase like anything else in a language, but it’s not based around the specific words, it’s based around the construction and delivery of the words which is pretty fascinating to me having taken linguistics classes.

My Thoughts:

I think this meme is hilarious. He just looks so sassy. My informant is definitely correct that if someone constructs a sentence in this way, anyone from my generation will be able to recognize it as the “Sassy Wonka” meme almost immediately. It’s cool that the internet can facilitate this kind of folklore which becomes a part of everyday situational lexicon.