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But was he a precursor to Internet humour?** [He is now being dubbed](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/8q7q9c/charlie_chaplin_inventor_of_memes/) the "inventor of memes" on Reddit due to the resemblance between a still from his 1922 film Pay Day and the 2017 "[distracted boyfriend meme](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/distracted-boyfriend)". The image [has been liked almost 300,000 times](https://twitter.com/BrukDiana/status/1006174168889643009) on Twitter, with people making their own memes about the coincidence. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read [X’s cookie policy](https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies) and [privacy policy](https://twitter.com/en/privacy) before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. Accept and continue The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. ## Distracted what-now? Distracted boyfriend. It's the name given to [a widely-shared stock image](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/distracted-boyfriend) of a man looking at another woman while out with his partner. Variants of the image were ubiquitous with social media in 2017 as people used the image to represent the feeling of coveting something they wanted. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read [X’s cookie policy](https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies) and [privacy policy](https://twitter.com/en/privacy) before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. Accept and continue The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. A year later, the meme has seen a resurgence through an unlikely source as [Charlie Chaplin has now been dubbed](https://twitter.com/JimmyDon17/status/1006124884970360832) "the original" distracted boyfriend. Some variants of the "distracted Charlie" meme are [jokes about the time period](https://twitter.com/jimmybing/status/1006190079927357440), with one user imagining how Chaplin felt about "talkies" - a colloquial term for film with audible dialogue. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read [X’s cookie policy](https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies) and [privacy policy](https://twitter.com/en/privacy) before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. Accept and continue The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. [While some people created](https://twitter.com/hunmik/status/1006177758106603520) variants of the meme that referenced people in 2018 coveting the Chaplin still, others used the "distracted Charlie" meme to call attention to the surge of posts. Though they seem to have struggled with how to spell his name. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read [X’s cookie policy](https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies) and [privacy policy](https://twitter.com/en/privacy) before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. Accept and continue The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. ## What is a meme? - The word meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene - Dawkins called memes "ideas that spread from brain to brain" - The Oxford English Dictionary defines memes as images, videos or text that are copied and spread by internet users, often with variations ## Is this the original meme? No. [We previously suggested](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43783521) that "the first meme" - a format-dependent joke, typically of a picture with a caption or subtitle - may have been published in 1919. It would be more accurate to call Chaplin the original distracted boyfriend, though there is no suggestion that the 2017 meme was based on Chaplin's 1922 film. Besides, there is one glaring difference between the two - it seems that the original still, taken from the 1922 film Pay Day, [was mirrored to better resemble the meme](https://twitter.com/peeto_g/status/1006001782248656896). Fortunately, a Twitter feed specialising in moving images from silent film has provided the original footage. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read [X’s cookie policy](https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies) and [privacy policy](https://twitter.com/en/privacy) before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. Accept and continue The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. ## You may also like: - [Is this 1921 cartoon the first ever meme?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43783521) - [Is this a pigeon? A 2011 meme reincarnated in 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-44108850) - [Exploring the life of a meme with American Chopper](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43794067) [Is this 1921 cartoon the first ever meme?](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-43783521) [How a 2011 meme took over Twitter in 2018](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-44108850) [Exploring the life of a meme with American Chopper](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-43794067) *** - [Home](https://www.bbc.com/) - [News](https://www.bbc.com/news) - [Sport](https://www.bbc.com/sport) - [Business](https://www.bbc.com/business) - [Technology](https://www.bbc.com/technology) - [Health](https://www.bbc.com/health) - [Culture](https://www.bbc.com/culture) - [Arts](https://www.bbc.com/arts) - [Travel](https://www.bbc.com/travel) - [Earth](https://www.bbc.com/future-planet) - [Audio](https://www.bbc.com/audio) - [Video](https://www.bbc.com/video) - [Live](https://www.bbc.com/live) - [Weather](https://www.bbc.com/weather) - [BBC Shop](https://shop.bbc.com/) - [BritBox](https://www.britbox.com/?utm_source=bbc.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=footer) BBC in other languages ### The BBC is in multiple languages #### Read the BBC In your own language [Oduu Afaan Oromootiin](https://www.bbc.com/afaanoromoo) [Amharic ዜና በአማርኛ](https://www.bbc.com/amharic) [Arabic عربي](https://www.bbc.com/arabic) [Azeri AZƏRBAYCAN](https://www.bbc.com/azeri) [Bangla বাংলা](https://www.bbc.com/bengali) [Burmese မြန်မာ](https://www.bbc.com/burmese) [Chinese 中文网](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp) [Dari دری](https://www.bbc.com/dari) [French AFRIQUE](https://www.bbc.com/afrique) [Hausa HAUSA](https://www.bbc.com/hausa) [Hindi हिन्दी](https://www.bbc.com/hindi) [Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN](https://www.bbc.com/naidheachdan) [Gujarati ગુજરાતીમાં સમાચાર](https://www.bbc.com/gujarati) [Igbo AKỤKỌ N’IGBO](https://www.bbc.com/igbo) [Indonesian INDONESIA](https://www.bbc.com/indonesia) [Japanese 日本語](https://www.bbc.com/japanese) [Kinyarwanda GAHUZA](https://www.bbc.com/gahuza) [Kirundi KIRUNDI](https://www.bbc.com/gahuza) [Korean 한국어](https://www.bbc.com/korean) [Kyrgyz Кыргыз](https://www.bbc.com/kyrgyz) [Marathi मराठी](https://www.bbc.com/marathi) [Nepali नेपाली](https://www.bbc.com/nepali) [Noticias para hispanoparlantes](https://www.bbc.com/mundo) [Pashto پښتو](https://www.bbc.com/pashto) [Persian فارسی](https://www.bbc.com/persian) [Pidgin](https://www.bbc.com/pidgin) [Polish PO POLSKU](https://www.bbc.com/polska) [Portuguese BRASIL](https://www.bbc.com/portuguese) [Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਖ਼ਬਰਾਂ](https://www.bbc.com/punjabi) [Russian НА РУССКОМ](https://www.bbc.com/russian) [Serbian NA SRPSKOM](https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat) [Sinhala සිංහල](https://www.bbc.com/sinhala) [Somali SOMALI](https://www.bbc.com/somali) [Swahili HABARI KWA KISWAHILI](https://www.bbc.com/swahili) [Tamil தமிழில் செய்திகள்](https://www.bbc.com/tamil) [Telugu తెలుగు వార్తలు](https://www.bbc.com/telugu) [Thai ข่าวภาษาไทย](https://www.bbc.com/thai) [Tigrinya ዜና ብትግርኛ](https://www.bbc.com/tigrinya) [Turkish TÜRKÇE](https://www.bbc.com/turkce) [Ukrainian УКРАЇНСЬКA](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian) [Urdu اردو](https://www.bbc.com/urdu) [Uzbek O'ZBEK](https://www.bbc.com/uzbek) [Vietnamese TIẾNG VIỆT](https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese) [Welsh NEWYDDION](https://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw) [Yoruba ÌRÒYÌN NÍ YORÙBÁ](https://www.bbc.com/yoruba) Follow BBC on: - [Terms of Use](https://www.bbc.com/pages/terms-of-use) - [Subscription Terms](https://www.bbc.com/pages/subscription-terms) - [About the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.bbc.com/pages/privacy-policy) - [Cookies](https://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/cookies/) - [Accessibility Help](https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/) - [Contact the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact) - [Advertise with us](https://advertising.bbcstudios.com/) - [Do not share or sell my info](https://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/cookies/how-can-i-change-my-bbc-cookie-settings/) - [BBC.com Help & FAQs](https://help.bbc.com/hc/) - [Content Index](https://www.bbc.com/pages/content-index) - [Set Preferred Source](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260128-how-to-make-google-put-trusted-sources-up-top-when-you-search) Copyright 2026 BBC. 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12 June 2018 Tom GerkenBBC UGC & Social News First National This still from Charlie Chaplin film Pay Day was upvoted over 80,000 times on Reddit **Charlie Chaplin was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood's silent movie era. But was he a precursor to Internet humour?** #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. Distracted what-now? Variants of the image were ubiquitous with social media in 2017 as people used the image to represent the feeling of coveting something they wanted. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. Some variants of the "distracted Charlie" meme are [jokes about the time period](https://twitter.com/jimmybing/status/1006190079927357440), with one user imagining how Chaplin felt about "talkies" - a colloquial term for film with audible dialogue. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. [While some people created](https://twitter.com/hunmik/status/1006177758106603520) variants of the meme that referenced people in 2018 coveting the Chaplin still, others used the "distracted Charlie" meme to call attention to the surge of posts. Though they seem to have struggled with how to spell his name. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. What is a meme? - The word meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene - Dawkins called memes "ideas that spread from brain to brain" - The Oxford English Dictionary defines memes as images, videos or text that are copied and spread by internet users, often with variations Is this the original meme? No. [We previously suggested](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43783521) that "the first meme" - a format-dependent joke, typically of a picture with a caption or subtitle - may have been published in 1919. It would be more accurate to call Chaplin the original distracted boyfriend, though there is no suggestion that the 2017 meme was based on Chaplin's 1922 film. Fortunately, a Twitter feed specialising in moving images from silent film has provided the original footage. #### Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose **‘accept and continue’**. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. You may also like: - [Is this 1921 cartoon the first ever meme?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43783521) - [Is this a pigeon? A 2011 meme reincarnated in 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-44108850) - [Exploring the life of a meme with American Chopper](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43794067)