Memes

Explaining ‘The Horrors Persist But So Do I’

Every day is a new horror…

Photo of Aimée Lutkin

Aimée Lutkin

Person with paint on their face and text that says 'normalise not saying 'Living the dream' instead saying: 'the horrors persist but so do i',(l), Gerbil in car with text that says 'Them: How's work going? Me: The horrors persist but so do i'(c), Dog howling under rainbow on pink clouds with text that says 'when the horrors persist, but so do i'(r)

The Horrors Persist But So Do I is a viral catchphrase that is a variation on the popular phrase “the horrors are endless, but I stay silly.” It is often pasted over a photo of a guinea pig driving a pink toy car with pink sunglasses on its head. Both phrases are used as a triumphant declaration of survival in the face of overwhelming dread.

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The horrors persist but so do i guinea pig in car pic
Aria/ Facebook

Meme basics:

  • Meme Creator: Unknown, began on tumblr
  • Meme Type: Image Macro/text
  • First Appearance: 2023
  • Origin Source: Tumblr
  • Peak Popularity: Spring 2023
  • Notable Variations
    • The Horrors Are Endless, But I Stay Silly
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Origin and spread

According to KnowYourMeme.com, Tumblr user junoinfernal shared the phrase “The Horrors Are Endless, But I Stay Silly” on Jan. 25, 2023, in a now-deleted post. The phrase evolved and was seen in March of that year on X, shared by user @MajorasMouse, who wrote, “The horrors persist but so do I.” They included a selfie and hashtagged the post for Trans Day of Visibility.

In April, Tumblr user secretsfromwholecloth shared a cross stitch of the phrase surrounded by adorable flowers.

Horrors persist cross stitch from Tumblr
secretsfromwholecloth/Tumblr
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Popularity

The meme picked up with the addition of a little guinea pig in a pink car. Facebook user Aria shared the image in April 2023 with the phrase over the exuberant rodent driving into the unknown.

The guinea pig in a car took off, and soon people were replacing the furry figure with their favorite characters from other media. Whatever they found inspiring:

Variation on horrors persist but so do i Meme
@gem1ny/X
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Cultural context

The popularity of the phrase seems directly related to how awful the news is these days. Especially with attacks on trans people and the use of the phrase on Trans Day of Visibility, the jokey phrase has a serious connotation: even when things are very very bad, just being here is a huge deal.

Meme variations

The phrase has since spread from Instagram, X, and Reddit, to TikTok, where people tend to post it over random video images.

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In Body Image
@DogsSilly/X.com
the horrors persist but so do i meme showing a wet possum in a sink screaming
@DogsSilly/X.com
The horrors persist but so do I meme on TikTok
@DogsSilly/X.com
Horrors persist meme from TikTok with pug
@thecosmiccupboard/TikTok
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And there are other variations on the figure representing persistence:

horrors persist knight with mask photo
@thecosmiccupboard/TikTok

But the guinea pig remains very persistent, even if the challenges facing them gets more specific.

Horrors persist meme about living the dream
Dark Salty Witch/ Facebook
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Horrors persist meme about how work is going
Dark Salty Witch/ Facebook

More catchphrase memes:

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