Tends to be amusing for English speakers
Posted: October 27, 2015 Filed under: America Since 1945, comedy Leave a commentEnjoyed reading this article from Vanity Fair. The jist of the article is that Ermahgerd Girl was intentionally making comedy when she took this picture. Does that change the funniness of this?
According to Ari Spool, a New York–based reporter and self-described meme scientist for Know Your Meme, rhotacized speech—that is, speech in which the “R” sound is somehow disfigured—tends to be amusing for English speakers.
But it’s not just about the imagined voice. “[It’s] also the absurdity, rhythm, and timbre of the words,” Spool said. “We call this type of voice-heavy meme writing ‘interior monologue captioning,’ and it’s a common ingredient in a successful image.”