Username Checks Out

Submission 28,389

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About

Username Checks Out is a common catchphrase used online to point out when someone makes a comment that seems to complement their online handle. For example, it might be used if someone with the handle "ilovepasta" makes the comment "spaghetti is amazing." It is most popular on Reddit. It is similar to the phenomenon of Beetlejuicing, where a person appears in a thread with a username pertinent to the topic at hand.

Origin

On November 19th, 2014, Redditor felix2468^[1] posted a question to /r/OutOfTheLoop about what the phrase "Username checks out" meant. While the comment had seen use online prior to the question, the post marked the first time someone inquired about its meaning online.

Spread

On October 20th, 2015, a 9GAG user posted an example showing someone with the username "EnragedQuitter" leaving an online gaming match, gaining over 6,600 points (shown below).

On April 17th, 2016, Redditor The-Lying-Tree posted the same question to /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[2] In the thread, users Drogovic and Stuff_muffin provided examples of how the meme would be used (shown below).

The popularity of the joke on Reddit led to the creation of a small subreddit, /r/ThatUserNameChecksOut,^[3] devoted to documenting examples of the phrase being used. There is also a Reddit bot^[4] that appears when the joke is made on Reddit.