"Go to Hell" Is Basic

About

"Go to Hell" Is Basic, also known as "Go to Hell" Is Boring and "Go to Hell" Is Overdone, is a phrasal template and meme format popularized on X / Twitter that involves users inventing sophisticated punishing scenarios that are worse than being told "go to hell," with common examples being missing an album release or something undesirable happening to a person's favorite fandom. Spawned by a viral X post in May 2021, the format maintained a continuous presence on the platform in the following years.

Origin

On May 3rd, 2021, X / Twitter^[1] user @phhskissy made a post in which they wrote that saying "go to hell" was basic and that wishing one to sleep through the announcement of Harry Styles' third album was not only more terrifying but also possible. The post (shown below) garnered over 570 reposts and 3,700 likes in two years.

Later that day, X / Twitter^[2] user @walIslovebot reused the joke, replacing Harry Styles with musician Louis Tomlinson. The post (shown below) garnered over 2,000 reposts and 12,200 likes in two years.

Spread

Following the initial posts, the format achieved virality on X / Twitter in May 2021. For example, on May 4th, X^[3] user @prfctromantics posted a version about singer-songwriter Taylor Swift that received over 2,600 reposts and 19,000 likes in two years (shown below, left). On May 6th, 2021, artist and X^[4] user @gwenllo made an art joke that accrued over 6,800 reposts and 38,000 likes in two years (shown below, right).

Throughout 2021 and in the following years, the format achieved a larger variety as users came up with various scenarios that appeared terrifying and possible to them.

For example, on November 2nd, 2021, X^[5] user @auzziejlee posted a Chris Pratt Voices Everyone version of the meme that received over 14,600 reposts and 67,000 likes in two years (shown below, left). On June 1st, 2022, X^[6] user @MILFTISM painted a scenario in which one's favorite fandom becomes so unbearable that people refuse to interact with its fans, with the post accumulating over 7,400 reposts and 49,500 likes in one year (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References