Oreo Grammar

About

Oreo Grammar refers to memes in which syllables of one word are rearranged in various ways, with each combination illustrated with components of the described object rearranged in the same way. The meme format takes its name from a viral artwork in which Oreos were rearranged in the described manner.

Origin

On December 30th, 2018, Twitter^[1] user @773O3 (白砂糖) posted an artwork in which the word "Oreo" (オレオin Japanese) rearranged with in various ways, with corresponding images showing components of an Oreo cookie rearranged in the same way (shown below, left). The post received over 107,800 retweets and 297,300 likes in two years. On December 31st, Redditor^[2] gamervn posted a translated version of the artwork done by Facebook page Ree,^[3] with the post gaining over 69,400 upvotes in /r/funny in six months (shown below, right)

Spread

On December 31st, 2019, Redditor^[4] Nobroam posted the earliest known derivative meme based on the format to /r/dankmemes (shown below, left). However, the proper application of the format did not reoccur until on March 25th, 2019, Redditor^[5] Henrique_username posted a meme in which Neapolitan ice cream was rearranged in the same manner to the original meme (shown below, right). The post received over 2,000 upvotes, while a March 26th repost by Facebook^[6] group Things that are not aesthetic gained over 14,000 reactions and 20,000 shares.

The viral spread of the Oreo and the Neapolitan versions inspired more similar memes in the following months, with the trend gaining traction in April 2019. For example, on April 17th, 2019, Twitter^[7] user @errai posted a banana version of the meme, gaining over 29,200 retweets and 56,500 likes in one year (shown below, left). On April 21st Redditor^[8] Henrique_username posted a hamburger version of the format, gaining over 13,300 upvotes (shown below, right).

On April 23rd, 2019, Instagram^[9] user iwillmakeallthedankmemes posted the first voiced edit of the format, with the video gaining over 53,400 likes and 557,800 views in one year.

In the following year, the format maintained a notable presence online with viral posts appearing on Twitter, Reddit and Instagram.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References