How Fast Do I Gotta Walk?

About

How Fast Do I Gotta Walk? is an online catchphrase joking about when one is wearing a knockoff brand of clothing, usually a shoe or sneaker, asking others how fast they would have to walk so onlookers won't notice the item is a fake. The catchphrase has led to parody videos in which users will pair the phrase with articles of clothing that bear no resemblance to the article of clothing being imitated.

Origin

"How Fast Do I Gotta Walk?" originated in the sneaker community on Reddit, particularly on /r/Repsneakers, a subreddit devoted to knockoff footwear. It appears the trend started in mid-2022. One of the earliest known posts using the phrase was posted on June 20th, 2022, by Redditor ImpossibleGiraffe631, who posted knockoff Nike sneakers to the subreddit,^[1] asking "How fast do I have to walk?" and gaining over 600 points in 18 months (shown below).

Spread

Over the following months, the question appeared numerous times on the subreddit before it started becoming popularized on TikTok. One of the earliest TikToks using the phrase was posted on September 3rd, 2022, by user notlovingu, gaining over 248,000 likes in roughly 14 months (shown below).

Over the following year, the meme was primarily prevalent on TikTok. Other viral TikToks using the phrase include a February 27th, 2023, post by @lilgoofy200 that showed a person with the image of shoes tattooed onto their feet, gaining over 122,000 likes in one year (shown below, left).

On February 23rd, user @itripfatpeople11 posted a joke where one "shoe" was literally a log of wood, gaining over 47,000 likes in the same time frame (shown below, right).

Additionally, it the phrase has been paired with various video game character creation screens to make a similar joke. For example, on April 23rd, 2023, TikToker marsismid posted an example showing a person attempting to recreate Kyle from South Park in Splatoon,, gaining over 3,700 likes in eight months (shown below, left).

On January 6th, 2024, TikToker @_spisy_ posted an example attempting to make their Fortnite character look like Goku, gaining over 900 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References