That Yoinky Sploinky

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Part of a series on GIF Captions. [View Related Entries]

About

That Yoinky Sploinky is a slang expression used to describe various amusing and unique dance moves, most often the "wobbly knees" dance move. Originating as a caption for security camera footage of a man dancing, the expression has since been used as a caption for various dancing GIFs. "Yoinky" is a nonsense word that originally appeared in the 2020 song "One Bad Bloop" by Instagram user RiceBubs.

Origin

In early June 2021, security camera footage of a man running up the driveway, performing the "wobbly knees" dance move for several seconds and then running away went viral. The video was paired with the shouting of American singer K. Michelle taken from a viral Instagram^[1] video originally posted by Michelle in October 2018.

The original poster of the footage and the person who combined it with the sound clip are currently unknown. On June 8th, 2020, iFunny^[2] account DailyDoseOfMLG and YouTuber spook made the earliest found reposts of the video (YouTube upload shown below). On June 9th, 2020, Facebook^[3] page Lemme get a uhhhhhhhhh reposted the video, with the clip gaining over 2,200 reactions and 155,000 views in one year.

In the following months, the video received viral spread through reposts.^[4]^[5]

In September and October 2020, a GIF caption meme based on the video with the dance looped and caption "Quaint" added received viral spread (author unknown, shown below, left). On September 2nd, 2020, iFunny^[6] user Scucc made the earliest repost of the GIF caption. On October 2nd, Tenor^[7] user evil2ds reposted the GIF caption.

Prior to November 23rd, 2020, an unknown user, presumably on Discord, recaptioned the GIF "That Yoinky Sploinky" (shown below, center). On November 23rd, Instagram^[8] user lilcousinfigure posted a still frame from the GIF to Instagram. On November 26th, iFunny^[9] user geckosarecool posted a video based on the GIF, set to a mashup of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk, with the post gaining over 160 smiles in nine months (shown below, right). Also on that day, YouTuber^[10] Depressive Jesse uploaded the meme, with the video gaining over 7,900 views in nine months.

"Yoinky" is a nonsense word borrowed from the song "One Bad Bloop" by Instagram^[19] user RiceBubs that went viral in October 2020.

Spread

In the following months, the GIF caption received viral spread online through reposts.^[11] On December 15th, 2020, YouTuber^[12] lime – toons, memes, and more! posted a video in which the GIF caption was set to bongo music, with the edit gaining over 23,800 views in eight months (shown below).

Starting in December 2020, "That Yoinky Spolinky" has been used as a caption for GIFs of people and characters dancing, primarily on Discord and the associated GIF hosting site Tenor. For example, on December 19th, Tenor^[13] user rikupone posted a GIF caption of a person dancing (shown below, left). On December 27th, 2020, Tenor^[14] user AllSeeingEgg posted a GIF caption of Pain Elemental from Doom Eternal (shown below, right).

The format maintained its popularity in 2021. For example, on March 6th, 2021, Twitter^[15] user @Reynfan42069 posted a Xenoblade Chronicles meme that received over 60,200 views, 3,200 retweets and 7,600 likes (YouTube^[16] upload shown below).

In late August 2021, following Jerma985's Dollhouse Stream, GIFs of the streamer captioned with the phrase received viral spread.^[17]^[18]