Where does the "We're the girls" TikTok meme come from?
September 20, 2019 8:43 AM Subscribe
Where does the "We're the girls" TikTok meme come from? Is it from a musical? A camp game? Some kind of sorority thing? From nowhere?
Here's a video of one instance of this meme and here's a compilation of several variations.
I think the meme format in the first video might be the canonical one, so I'll try to describe it here. A group of three people (usually girls) walk around in a circle chanting "we're the girls". After saying "we're the girls" twice, they pause, and whoever is at the front of the circle (closest to camera) says something about themselves or about the group collectively. I think these things are supposed to be either revealing or embarrasing but might also be boastful or simply absurd. After the statement, they go back to walking in a circle and chanting "we're the girls" twice, pausing again, and now a different person gives their statement.
Variations on this format include:
1) Saying "we're the girls" three times instead of twice. The meter/rhythm definitely seems better in the triple than the double version which makes me wonder why anyone does the double version.
2) Instead of a group of people, it's just one person doing it by themselves. In that case, usually instead of walking in a circle, they'll just turn around in place.
3) The group is not walking around in a circle but rather lined up one behind another, oriented so that only the front person is visible to camera. They chant "we're the girls" without moving, the front person says their thing, and then walks away.
I'm going bonkers trying to track down this ridiculous thing. I suspect that it's likely too niche to be picked up by places like knowyourmeme.com or r/OutOfTheLoop.
Here's a video of one instance of this meme and here's a compilation of several variations.
I think the meme format in the first video might be the canonical one, so I'll try to describe it here. A group of three people (usually girls) walk around in a circle chanting "we're the girls". After saying "we're the girls" twice, they pause, and whoever is at the front of the circle (closest to camera) says something about themselves or about the group collectively. I think these things are supposed to be either revealing or embarrasing but might also be boastful or simply absurd. After the statement, they go back to walking in a circle and chanting "we're the girls" twice, pausing again, and now a different person gives their statement.
Variations on this format include:
1) Saying "we're the girls" three times instead of twice. The meter/rhythm definitely seems better in the triple than the double version which makes me wonder why anyone does the double version.
2) Instead of a group of people, it's just one person doing it by themselves. In that case, usually instead of walking in a circle, they'll just turn around in place.
3) The group is not walking around in a circle but rather lined up one behind another, oriented so that only the front person is visible to camera. They chant "we're the girls" without moving, the front person says their thing, and then walks away.
I'm going bonkers trying to track down this ridiculous thing. I suspect that it's likely too niche to be picked up by places like knowyourmeme.com or r/OutOfTheLoop.
I'm also super curious about this because I've seen it all over and have no idea where it came from!
posted by brilliantine at 12:49 PM on September 20, 2019
posted by brilliantine at 12:49 PM on September 20, 2019
Response by poster: Maybe someone just made up that format for TikTok originally and it's not a reference to anything.
Indeed, that's definitely a possibility. However, if it did indeed spring forth fully formed form within TikTok, like Athena from Zeus' head, it is quite unusual and different from other TikTok-originated memes. Mainly, unlike most TikTok memes, this one doesn't have a standard song, it's always done with only original sound.
Also, if there are any leads for the earliest instance of this meme on TikTok, I'd be appreciative of that as well.
posted by mhum at 2:26 PM on September 20, 2019
Indeed, that's definitely a possibility. However, if it did indeed spring forth fully formed form within TikTok, like Athena from Zeus' head, it is quite unusual and different from other TikTok-originated memes. Mainly, unlike most TikTok memes, this one doesn't have a standard song, it's always done with only original sound.
Also, if there are any leads for the earliest instance of this meme on TikTok, I'd be appreciative of that as well.
posted by mhum at 2:26 PM on September 20, 2019
I think perhaps this is just an original thing. Every tiktok meme I've looked up and couldn't find some kind of history for has been because it was born on tiktok. Sometimes it's hard to even think of what to be looking up, but given this one has a relatively simple way to encapsulate it to search, I would be even more confident it's tiktok original meme.
posted by GoblinHoney at 2:36 PM on September 20, 2019
posted by GoblinHoney at 2:36 PM on September 20, 2019
Response by poster: As it turns out, the first video I linked appears to be the original instance of this meme on TikTok (dating to Aug. 17). And, fwiw, a couple of comments under that video suggest that this might be some kind of slumber party game.
posted by mhum at 11:02 AM on September 25, 2019
posted by mhum at 11:02 AM on September 25, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
I can't see an obvious origin for "we're the girls" with my googling. Maybe someone just made up that format for TikTok originally and it's not a reference to anything.
posted by w0mbat at 9:30 AM on September 20, 2019