9 viral memes that left netizens in stitches in 2024

From the ‘gangsta’ swag of Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç to the addictive sound of ‘Chin Tapak Dum Dum’ to Rahul Gandhi’s famous ‘Tata Bye Bye’ speech, hilarious memes, drawn from mundane, real-life situations, viral music tracks and even old videos, broke the internet in 2024. These memes, splashed across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms cracked up netizens as meme-makers and influencers used their creative hat and multiple formats to churn out quirky, funny and engaging versions.

Here are few that took the internet by storm in 2024:

Chin Tapak Dum Dum

We bet you have heard yourself say it not just once, but multiple times during one of your reels-scrolling sessions. The phrase is picked up from the animated serial ‘Chhota Bheem’ where it is a catchphrase used by the villain ‘Takiya’.

Even though the phrase is basically gibberish, the way it is said and the sound it produces, made it a sensation on the internet. No wonder, Chin Tapak Dum Dum has found its way into GIFs, image macro memes, video and audio memes used in millions of social media reels and videos and even ringtones. It is mostly used to depict a nonchalant response to a pressing life situation. 

Aha Tamatar Bade Majedar

Well, this meme falls in the category of music which you think is too childish for you, yet find yourself singing it.

The meme which went viral a few months back shows an animated cat dancing to ‘Aha Tamatar Bade Majedar’, which basically means ‘Oh the tomatoes are so good’ and has been adapted for a slew of memes in different formats including by Netflix India.

The song, sung by Arnav Chaphekar is originally a nursery rhyme which went viral after its catchy lyrics took the internet by storm. Since then the video –which features a happy tomato dancing – has garnered over 5.5 crore views on YouTube.

Hey Prabhu, Hey Hariram

“Hey Prabhu Hey Hariram Krishna Jagannatham Premanand Ye Kya Hua”

You must have heard these lines as a punchline in several funny videos on the internet. And as if netizens weren’t already going bonkers over this viral sound byte, its popularity went a notch up when it was used in the title track of Kartik Aryan-starrer Bhool Bhulaiya 3.

The phrase has been borrowed from the rather comical viral social media video of Silchar (Assam) resident Bishal Debnath, shot during a flood situation. The original video shows Debnath along with two other youths wading through neck-deep floodwaters in their home and saying the famous line– “Hey prabhu hey hariram Krishna jagannatham premanand ye kya hua, gala tak paani aa gaya, gamcha bhi khul gaya mera (Oh lord look what happened, the water is till my neck, my towel is also undone) !” – as the other two chuckle.

Who knew an impromptu line, said in a moment of lightheartedness, would make Debnath’s voice trend with the likes of Pitbull and Neeraj Shridhar!

Bado Badi

“Play this near a dead body…dead body will run away,” says one of the comments on YouTube under the song ‘Bado Badi’ by British-Pakistani artiste Chahat Fateh Ali Khan.

But despite being annoying, the song – originally sung by Noon Jahan in the film Banarsi Thag –caught up big time on social media, with influencers using as a playback track in Bollywood memes.

Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç

Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç’s not-give-two-hoots-style, customary prescription glasses, and one-hand-in-pocket look at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games made him an instant social media sensation.

The internet was awash with a riot of messages and memes on the 51-year-old soon after he literally sashayed in, shot the target and walked away with a silver at the Olympics without any fuss.

“Dude looks like he just decided to join the Olympics when he woke up this morning,” said one social media post.

“Did Turkey send a hitman to the Olympics?” said another meme.

A famous meme by @dontlikethatbro depicted him as a ‘hitman’ sent by Turkey for "one last job", while another showed him alongside the famous assassins played by John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’. 

Chill Guy

The image of a chirpy-looking dog dressed in jeans, pullover and sneakers has been copiously used by meme-makers to depict having a good time or being in situations where calm must be kept however pesky the trigger might be.

The artwork of the ‘chill guy’ character was originally made by X user Phillip Banks, and was shared on October 4, 2023. The artist described the image as that of a “chill guy that lowkey doesn’t give a f**k”.

Social media users ever since have created their versions of the cool guy image and used it in memes to compare it with chilled out characters and real-life people.

Very Demure, Very Mindful

Mostly a trend used on TikTok, the catchphrase “Very Demure, Very Mindful” has been made popular by TikToker Jools Lebron.

It all started when Lebron in one of her makeup tutorials in August on getting a “demure” look for office famously said, “See how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful.”

It started a viral trend on TikTok with several users including celebrities lip-synching to the original audio in videos where they wanted to show things they saw as simple, demure, and mindful.

Socialite Kim Kardashian in an Instagram post on August 16 wrote, “See the way I take my bts pictures…very cutsie, very mindful, very demure…not like the other girls.”

Also to join the trend was outgoing US President Joe Biden, who in an August 16 post on X, said, “Cancelling the student debt of nearly 5 million Americans through various actions. Very mindful. Very demure.”

Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Tata, Goodbye’

This clip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, used as a meme in countless videos on social media, has left many of us in stitches.

The clip is borrowed from a speech that Rahul delivered during an election rally in Mumbai in October 2019.

Rahul had said the words while taking a swipe at the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ vision.

“Aap jaiyye Pune jaiyye. Kisi bhi factory mein chale jaiyye, puchiye, Make in India kaisa chal raha hai. Khatam. Bye bye. Tata. Goodbye, gaya (You go to any factory in Pune and ask. Make in India is over)," Rahul had said.

The lines, said in a rather humorous way, came in handy for netizens to use as a meme for real-life situations, especially where something has ended and there is no hope.

Moye Moye

The phrase ‘Moje More’, meaning nightmares, from Serbian singer Teya Dora’s famous track 'Dzanum' first went viral for its haunting melody on social media.

But the song had a second coming when both 'Moje More' and its misheard version ‘Moye Moye,’ started being used in memes, especially to mark disappointment, a twist in a situation or to mock someone.

From being adapted as a cover by actor-singer Ayushmann Khurrana to being used by the police departments in Delhi and West Bengal to create traffic safety awareness, the viral trend has been one of the most-watched memes in 2024.