How the Hell You Spell Chauffeur / Fancy Pants Rich McGee

About

How the Hell You Spell Chauffeur or Fancy Pants Rich McGee is a viral X / Twitter exchange in which one user asks "how the hell you spell showfer" and another answers "chauffeur," the one who asked responding, "Ooooo fancy pants rich mcgee over here fucc you," similar to other bait jokes or setups such as ligma. The exchange was screenshotted and gained viral spread throughout the early 2020s. In April 2024, TikToker @chat.musicc posted a viral video in which an AI sings the exchange in a country style. The video was popularized on TikTok that May as the source of lip dubs, also spreading to YouTube.

Origin

On October 20th, 2020, a screenshot of a now-deleted comment exchange on X was posted by iFunny^[1] user sniffpodmp4_2019, garnering no interactions in four years (shown below). The exchange shows one user, @DrowsyDeity, ask, "How the hell you spell showfer." Another X user responds, "chauffeur." DrowsyDeity responds, "Ooooo fancy pants mcgee over here fucc you." X user @doesntpaytaxes responds, "spelling bee ass 😭." Finally, DrowsyDeity responds with, "He gon give me the definition next😭😭." This is the earliest known user to post the screenshot.

Spread

The meme gained viral spread over the following years, inspiring edits in which characters from various fandoms are associated with each comment. For example, on October 20th and December 18th, 2022, edits of the meme were posted to the subreddits /r/evangelionmemes^[2] and /r/stunfisk,^[3] garnering over 950 upvotes and 710 upvotes, respectively, in two years (shown below, left and right).

On December 7th, 2023, Instagram^[4] user disabledbagel posted the original screenshot, garnering over 4,000 likes in five months. On January 12th, 2024, Instagram^[5] user drankpiss posted the meme, garnering over 78,000 likes in four months.

Chat Music's Country Music Rendition

On April 8th, 2024, TikToker^[6] @chat.musicc posted a video in which the comment exchange, along with other viral comment exchanges, are sung in a country style, purportedly using AI voice, garnering over 9.3 million views in a month (shown below).

The video's original sound became notably popularized in May 2024 as the source of lip dub skits on TikTok, garnering over 74,000 uses by May 23rd, 2024.

For example, on May 9th, 2024, TikToker^[7] @stephreynaart posted a Gravity Falls fan animation using the sound, garnering over 4.5 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On May 11th, TikToker^[8] @taleaar posted a skit using the sound that gained over 18 million views in around two weeks (shown below, right).

The song also gained viral spread on YouTube. On May 15th, YouTuber^[9] Rasyleaf !! posted an animation to the song that gained over 33,000 views in a week. On May 17th, YouTuber^[10] 20Chronicles posted a video referencing Dungeons and Dragons using the song, garnering over 300,000 views in a week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References