HIMARS O'clock

About

HIMARS O'clock or HIMARS Time is a catchphrase used to celebrate High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) strikes by Ukraine on Russian forces during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. The phrase first appeared on Twitter in July 2022 following reports that Ukrainian soldiers destroyed a Russian ammunition depot outside of Snizhne, Ukraine using HIMARS launchers supplied by the United States. The meme is also associated with the NAFO group.

Origin

On June 1st, 2022, The Guardian^[1] reported that the U.S. agreed to send four HIMARS rocket launchers to Ukraine to aid them in the war with Russia. On July 3rd, Twitter^[2] user @yupivo posted a video allegedly showing a Russian ammunition depot outside of Snizhne, Ukraine exploding. The post was retweeted^[3] by Twitter^[3] user @IntelCrab that day, inspiring Twitter^[4] user @goblin__soup to retweet it and write, "It’s HIMARS o’clock lads," gaining over 100 likes in a month (shown below).

Spread

Over the following days, several memes referencing "HIMARS o'clock" were posted to Twitter. On July 4th, 2022, Twitter^[5] user @LilythGeist posted a drawing of a HIMARS on a truck showing a clock pointing to "HIMARS," gaining over 100 likes in a month (shown below, left). On the same day, Twitter^[6] user @v_stus posted a doge meme using the phrase, gaining over 400 likes in a month (shown below, right).

On the same day, July 4th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user @iAmTheWarax posted a version of the I Wish All Lesbians A Very Pleasant Evening meme with a video of a Russian ammo depot exploding, writing, "honey, it's himars o'clock -- time for your daily structural flattening," gaining over 1,300 likes and 150 retweets in a month (shown below).

On July 9th, the official Twitter^[8] account for the Georgian Legion, a Ukrainian military unit, retweeted a tweet^[9] by U.S. Secretary of Defense minister Lloyd J. Austin announcing that the government would send four more HIMARS units to Ukrain, writing, "It's HIMARS o'clock," gaining over 1,000 likes in a month. On July 10th, Daily KOS^[10] used the term in a headline, where they also report that there were at least 11 HIMARS strikes on Russian military targets by Ukraine that night.

On July 21st, the Twitter^[11] account @HIMARStime, a gimmick account dedicated to posting and retweeting videos of HIMARS strikes and memes surrounding the "HIMARS o'clock" meme, made its first post. The account gained over 4,000 followers by August 3rd. On July 24th, @HIMARStime tweeted^[12] a montage music video heavily featuring footage of HIMARS units, gaining over 2,200 likes in a week (shown below).

Yes, do it again! #nafo #fellas pic.twitter.com/kNWz1YwkT7

— Is it HIMARS o'clock? (@HIMARStime) July 24, 2022

On July 28th, Twitter^[13] user and Ukraine war reporter @walter_report tagged @HIMARStime in a tweet showing footage of a HIMARS explosion. On July 30th, the Georgian Legion Twitter^[14] account used the phrase again in a post mocking the Russians, gaining over 11,000 likes and 1,000 retweets in four days (shown below).

On August 2nd, the official Twitter^[15] account of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, @DefenceU, posted a video montage set to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" using the phrase over a compilation of HIMARS footage, gaining over 9,200 likes and 1.900 retweets in a day (shown below). On that day, Twitter^[16] user @IAPonomarenko reposted the video, writing, "Oh dear lord, Lars is going to sue our Ukrainian asses," gaining over 11,000 likes in a day.

Exit light. Enter HIMARS. Exit russians.Every russian occupier in Ukraine lyrics of this song…🔥And already sleeps with one eye open…Music by @Metallica pic.twitter.com/KCDmumqPpW

— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 2, 2022

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References