Taught Me It Was Okay To Be Weird

About

Taught Me It Was Okay To Be Weird is a phrasal meme popular on Twitter in which people parody heartfelt tributes to celebrities that read "X taught me it was okay to be weird" by applying the phrase to unfitting subjects.

Origin

The phrase "X taught me it was okay to be weird" first appeared on Twitter on May 16th, 2013 when Twitter user @aquariusdreamer^[1] used it referring to Gonzo the Muppet.

Spread

The phrase continued to be used over the course of the next several years in tribute to celebrities dying, particularly eccentric celebrities such as David Bowie and Prince. It began being used as a joke in November of 2016. One of the first notable uses of the tweet came on November 26th, 2016, when Brandon Wardell tweeted "fidel castro taught me it's ok 2 be weird" following the death of Fidel Castro.^[1] The tweet gained over 170 retweets and 730 likes (shown below). The same day, the joke was posted in the /r/ChapoTrapHouse^[2] subreddit where it gained over 90 points.

Following the popularity of that tweet, the joke began seeing more use, particularly on Weird/Left Twitter. For example, Chapo Trap House host @ByYourLogic tweeted a variation of the joke at Hillary Clinton on May 7th, 2017, gaining over 170 likes (shown below, left). On July 21st, following the firing of Sean Spicer, user @charles_kinbote used the with him, gaining 120 retweets and 740 likes (shown below, right).

The jokes spiked following the death of Charles Manson. Twitter user @TheAliciaKraft posted a tweet that gained 11 retweets and 26 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @helenbholmes posted a similar joke and gained 28 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References