Dafuq
Part of a series on Internet Slang. [View Related Entries]
About
Dafuq is a slang interjection typically used in reaction to that which makes no sense or provokes severe confusion. It is short for the colloquial phrase "[what] the fuck?" and typically written without capital letters, spaces and punctuation. Since appearing online in the late 2000s, the slang term has been used in memes, such as image macros, reaction images and a commonly seen one with Snape from Harry Potter reacting in a shocked manner.
Origin
The phrase "what the fuck," or "WTF," has been widely used both in real-life conversations and popular culture prior to its adaption into online slang and image macros. The phrase eventually spun off into its abridged forms "WTF" and "the fuck?" as first documented via Urban Dictionary[1] on March 3rd, 2003, and March 17th, 2004, respectively. The term has been notably featured in a LOLcat video known as "'the fuck was that' cat," uploaded by YouTuber[11] webinapage on November 26th, 2009 (shown below).
Meanwhile, the earliest known definition of the term "dafuq" can be found in an Urban Dictionary[2] entry submitted on January 4th, 2009, which explains the phrases as "like wtf, it's ebonics for what the fuck."
Spread
The alternate version of the phrase entered widespread usage in the following year when it was featured in a two-pane image macro using a still shot of the startled-looking Severus Snape (played by Alan Rickman) from the 2010 fantasy film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (seen below).
One of the first viral instances of the dafuq reaction image emerged in November 2010, when the still shot of Snape was paired with a photoshopped version of another still shot from the same Harry Potter film. Throughout November and December that year, the image made its rounds across a number of internet humor sites including Memebase,[5] 9GAG[6] and FunnyJunk,[3] among others (example shown below).
In addition to usage of the Snape reaction image, the term "dafuq" has also become associated with odd or inexplicable images, as well as GIF animations and videos of startled-looking animals on Reddit[9] and Tumblr.[10] A single topic blog named Dafuq-Posts[7] was launched in October 2011, curating a wide array of images and videos relating to the category of WTF humor. The Facebook[8] fan page for the phrase was launched on December 11th, 2011, and gained more than 1,700 likes in the span of six months.
Related Memes
Dafuq Did I Just Read?
The popularity of the term "dafuq" has also led to a spin-off series of multi-pane vertical images featuring a Rage Comic character known as Dafuq Did I Just Read?, which is often used to illustrate the ridiculous nature of various forum and blog posts found on the web.
Various Examples
Template
Search Interest
External References
[1] Urban Dictionary – The Fuck
[2] Urban Dictionary – "Dafuq" Definition
[5] Memebase – Snape Just Had a Cardiac Event
[6] 9GAG – Search Results for Dafuq
[7] Tumblr – Dafuq Posts
[8] Facebook – Dafuq pages
[9] Reddit – Search Results for Dafuq
[10] Tumblr – Search Results for Dafuq
[11] YouTube – The Fuck Was That Cat
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![yveinthesky-deactivated20190127 Every time I read up on why Walmart failed in Germany again I am massively entertained. I can recommend it to everyone. Google "Why Walmart failed in Germany". Hours of entertainment. blackestsabbath One issue was the chanting. Walmart employees are required to start their shifts by engaging in group chants and stretching exercises, a practice intended to build morale and instill loyalty. Fiendish as it sounds, Walmart employees are required to stand in formation and chant, "WALMART! WALMART! WALMART!" while performing synchronized group calisthenics. mariesbookblog this is literally the most hilarious thing ever This is exactly what happened to Wal-Mart Germany. To begin with, it appointed four CEOs during its first four years of operation. The first was Rob Tiarks, a US citizen and a Wal-Mart, Inc. senior vice president who had previously supervised around 200 US Supercenters from the company headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Not only did he not speak any German. Due to his unwillingness to learn the language - a view shared by most of the other US managers that were redeployed to Germany to assist him -, English was soon decreed as the official company language at the management level. seriously what even So far Wal-Mart Germany has not succeeded in delivering on the second part of its value proposition - "excellent customer service" - either. By contrast the company has repeatedly been rated as only just or even slightly below average in terms of overall consumer satisfaction (Table 7).67 In our view, this is because Wal-Mart's traditional US-centered view of customer service, enshrined in some of its famous/notorious basic beliefs and rules, is only partly compatible with the expectations of German consumers. This is in particular true the famous "ten- foot-rule" ("three-meter-rule" in metric Germany) and the institution of the "greeter" (which, in the meantime, have been largely abolished after shoppers unaware of its key role in Wal-Mart's service concept had repeatedly complain- ed that they had been harassed by strangers on store premises). While yielding i'm laughing so f------ hard 'harassed by strangers' i can't stop laughing i'm reading a 30 page paper on this and it's hilarious (in case you're curious: https:// thetimchannel.files.wordpress.com/ 2012/11/w024.pdf) vallisagarwaen this is still so f------ funny, I can't get over this. never. M psychoanthrowalker needed integrator. According to headhunters Wal-Mart Germany's is widely consider- ed to be a very unattractive employer, with around one third of its executives- store managers upwards-actively secking job offers from other companies. The under lying causes are said to include widespread dissatisfaction with their relatively low pay. purchases. Plastic bags, plastic junk, plastic smiles. But because the German ferguswyrm My favorite part was how walmart did that thing where they get a bunch of people to work a long part time shift, but just short enough to not be full time, thinking they could avoid giving employees healthcare. It turns out you can't do that in Germany, so they had to give healthcare to way more employees than if they had just hired people to full time positions. libertarirynn You know if you're going to open a business in another country I might help to know a few damn things about that country's culture, business practices, and laws.OBJ karagordon they also tried to forbid employees from dating each other and a judge had to tell them that their employees personal lives are none of their business Imao #crapitalism 145,325 notes A t]](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/643/504/d88.jpeg "wall...nut?")
Top Comments
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