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What Is The 'Ew Brother Ew? What's That Brother?' Meme? The Viral TikTok Sound Explained
One of the most classic uses of a meme is to say how you feel, and one of the most common emotions felt on the internet is disgust. Ew, brother, ew! What's that? (or Brother, ugh!) is the latest TikTok trend that gives people the chance to express how they feel about something disgusting. But where did it come from? Let's explain what's so gross, and why.
Where Does "Ew Brother Ew!" Come From?
The phrase is a clip from a longer sermon delivered and posted to YouTube by Mohammed Hoblos, an Australian Islamic cleric, in 2019. The moment comes towards the end of the sermon. The sermon was titled "Are You a Man ?! Very Powerful Speech !"
In the video, the phrase comes around in reference to some Muslims whom Hoblos says claim to believe in the Prophet, but don't want to live according to his sunna, his traditions and practices. Hoblos, imitating them, says these believers might respond to the rules and work of religious faith with the phrase "Ew, brother, ew! What's that?"
How Did "Ew, Brother, Ew!" Become A Meme?
Like in many memes, the clip was separated from its original context, making it so these few seconds have been viewed by more people than any other part of the video.
It seems that "Ew, brother, ew!" first picked up meme usage in early January of 2024, on Twitter / X. with a video about an NFL player. By the end of that month, the clip (and the sound attached to it) was running rampant across TikTok as a reaction video illustrating the response of users to anything they found distasteful, or thought others might find distasteful.
The audio alone and a green screen of the video also circulated widely on the platform, with users attaching them to all sorts of content.
What Does "Ew, Brother, Ew!" Mean On TikTok?
The video gets used to react and comment on things that the poster finds gross (or acts as if they find gross). It's also used to narrate and tell about groups of people (who aren't the poster) that find a thing gross.
Why Do People Post "Ew, Brother, Ew! What's That?"
It's possible that one thing that attracts people to the video is the dramatic delivery of Hoblos and his long pauses for emphasis. It might also be the pronunciation of "Ew," which is both very Australian and very exaggerated.
For the full history of the "Ew, brother, ew! What's that?" meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.