When the Function Got X

Submission 14,380

Part of a series on When The Function Got Hennessy. [View Related Entries]

About

When the Function Got X refers to a snowclone variation of the phrase "When the Function Got Hennessy" which replaced the word "Hennessy" with other items, activities or concepts that would be at an imagined "function" (a slang term for a party). The phrasal template trended alongside other, similar memes like The Function Will Have and White People at the Function. In mid-2023, the phrasal template became predominantly associated with an exploitable, recaptioned Whisper template showing an emoji rubbing its hands together in an evil or maniacal way (known as the "Scheming Emoticon") originally surfacing on Instagram.

Origin

Starting in February 2021,^[1]^[2] memes using the phrase "When the function got Hennessy" started surfacing online. Memes using the phrase seemingly peaked in April 2022. On September 15th, 2022, Instagram^[3] user @squidyz posted a meme that replaced the word "Hennessy" with "glucose" and also added an image of a sunflower. The post gained roughly 9,100 likes in 11 months and is currently the first known use of the "When the function got X" snowclone (shown below).

Spread

Going into late 2022, variations of the phrasal template continued to surface across platforms. For instance, on September 24th, 2022, TikToker^[4] @2005.vauxhall_monaro_vxr posted a Wise Mystical Tree meme with the "glucose" variation, gaining over 600 likes and more viral reposts on TikTok^[5] and Instagram^[6] (shown below, left). On December 26th, 2022, X^[7] user @pradanitecrawlr posted one about grilled cheese, gaining roughly 3,300 likes in eight months (shown below, right).

"When The Function Got X" Emoji Meme

On January 13th, 2023, Instagram^[8] user @pastor.flacc posted a screenshot of their own X^[9] post reading, "When the function has a jungle gym," showing an emoji rubbing its hands together, known as the "Scheming emoticon" on Adobe Stock,^[10] gaining roughly 5,400 likes in seven months (shown below, left). On August 5th, 2023, Instagram^[11] user @quirkedup_paulyshawty posted an exploited Whisper post with the "Scheming emoticon," reading, "When the function got Crack," gaining roughly 4,900 likes in three weeks (shown below, right).

On August 12th, 2023, Facebook^[12] user c̸̙̼̳̺̣͈̫̲͕̆̽̋̈́̆̌͑̐̆͒̕h̴̢̢̢̢̛͍̃͝i̵̧̖̜̬̩͍͓̝̩̥͋̄l̶͉̼̏̉͒͛̐͑̚͘͝ḷ̷͓̻͕̼͔̖̜͎̙̂͛̅͊̃̈́̃̔͗̂f̸̡̳̭̘͕̞̙̅̇̉̋͆̂̓͐͒͛̑͋́͗̈́ạ̵̼̤͙̞̰̻̱̅̍̇̑̕͘͠i̵̗̫̯̔̐͑͐͌̎͂́͂̒͠͝͝l̶̡̟̝̅̇̎̐̈́̒̋́͆̂͑͊͋͝ư̴̡͍̳̌͋͒̀̕ŕ̷̡̭̞̲̩̬͓̟̞͔̤̑̇͆͋̇̅̽͌̚ͅͅe̷̤̙̮͉͎̯̦̻̝͗̏̚͜ posted the first-known variation of @quirkedup_paulyshawty's template, gaining over 260 reactions in 17 days (shown below, left). Later on August 12th, X^[13] user @mylifeaslitliz posted a recaption reading, "Spinach and artichoke dip," gaining roughly 47,800 likes in 17 days (shown below, right).

Viral iterations of the template continued to surface on X,^[14] Instagram^[15] and Tumblr^[16] going in August 2023.