John is Kill

About

"John is Kill" refers to a copypasta story that is meant to survey what people were doing at the time of the Beatles John Lennon's death on December 8th, 1980. The story, which is marked by improper English grammar and spelling errors, has inspired a number of variations featuring other deceased celebrities and musicians in substitute for the English rock star. In December 2019, "Club Penguin is Kil" version of the copypasta gained popularity.

Origin

On January 10th, 2012, an Anonymous 4chan ^[14] user posted a thread on /tv/ – Television & Film board, apologizing for his "poor English" and asking other users "when were you when heat legend dies", a misspelling of deceased actor Heath Ledger.

On the same day, Body Building Forums ^[12] member HITSTICK53 posted a thread titled "when were you when heat legend dies?". On August 22nd, 2012, a version of the copypasta featuring the deceased Beatles musician John Lennon was posted to 4chan.^[15]

apology for poor english

when were you when john lenin dies?

i was sat at home eating smegma butter when pjotr ring

‘john is kill’

‘no’

Spread

On the same day, Redditor ^[7] Petryz submitted a screenshot of the original 4chan thread to the /r/4chan subreddit, where it gained over 3,000 points and 50 comments prior to being archived. On August 28th, 2012, the screenshot was reposted on FunnyJunk,^[1] accumulating upwards of 127,000 views and 1,500 comments in the following two years. On September 17th, a thread was created on 4chan urging users to post comments on Skrillex YouTube videos suggesting that the electronic music producer had died. Two days later, a compilation of hoax YouTube comments titled "When was you when Skrillex die?" was highlighted on FunnyJunk.^[9]

On October 23rd, Newgrounds Forums user Slint posted the "John is kill" copypasta in a thread titled "when were you when".^[6] On November 22nd, the copypasta was reposted to the /sp/ (sports) board on 4chan.^[4] On April 2nd, 2013, YouTuber TheStolken uploaded a dramatic reading of the original copypasta (shown below).

On November 30th, a variation of the copypasta with the deceased actor Paul Walker substituted for John Lennon was posted on 4chan. On December 1st, Redditor KINGcjb55 submitted a screenshot of the Paul Walker thread to the /r/4chan subreddit, where it gathered more than 2,100 upvotes and 45 comments in four months.^[8] On January 8th, 2014, Urban Dictionary user OLPZach submitted an entry for "john is kill," citing 4chan as the origin of the copypasta.^[5]

Club Penguin Is Kil

On April 22nd, 2019, Redditor^[16] WeNeedFlopper published a screenshot of a YouTube comment by YouTuber Sergeant Arch Dornan, using the copypasta to discuss Club Penguin. It reads, "apolgy for bad english where were u wen club penguin die I was at house eating dorito when phone ring 'Club penguin is kil' 'no.'" The post received more than 1,700 points (96% upvoted) and 50 comments in less than one year (shown below, left).

About two weeks later, Twitter ^[17] @_stickfab_ tweeted the copypasta. The post received more than 880 likes in less than one year (shown below, center).

On December 17th, Redditor^[18] Doctor5mooth posted an image that featured a silhouette of a child and a penguin looking at sunset underneath the text of the copypasta. The post received more than 68,000 points (90% upvoted) and 900 comments (shown below, right).

apolgy for bad english

where were u wen club penguin die

i was at house eating dorito when phone ring

"Club penguin is kil"

"no"

Search Interest

External References