4 Fingers Up

2013Hand gesture / social media trendsemi-active

Also known as: 4's Up · Four Fingers Up

4 Fingers Up is a hand gesture meme—four fingers held up with tucked thumb—originating from 2013, popularized by a 2022 TikTok trend featuring joke definitions claiming it means you're secretly gay or in love.

4 Fingers Up (also called "4's Up") is a hand gesture meme where a person holds up four fingers with the thumb tucked into the palm, back of the hand facing outward. The gesture carries wildly different meanings depending on context: a football tradition signaling the fourth quarter, a Florida gang sign repping your block, a political solidarity symbol from the 2013 Egyptian protests, and most recently, the subject of a viral 2022 TikTok trend built around joke Urban Dictionary definitions claiming anyone throwing up four fingers is secretly gay or madly in love with you.

hand gesture memestiktok memesurban dictionary memesco opted memesdouble entendre memes

Overview

The 4 Fingers Up gesture is performed by raising four fingers with the thumb folded into the palm, back of the hand facing outward. What makes this meme unusual is that the exact same physical gesture means completely different things depending on who's doing it and where. Football players throw it up at the start of the fourth quarter2. In parts of South Florida, it's a way of repping your neighborhood3. In 2013, Egyptian protesters adopted it as the Rabaa symbol to honor those killed at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque1. And on TikTok in 2022, it became the centerpiece of a running joke where users compiled photos of people doing the gesture and paired them with absurd Urban Dictionary definitions4.

The meme's humor comes from the collision of all these meanings. Someone throwing four fingers up in a football photo, a group selfie, or a rap video could be doing it for any number of reasons, but TikTok users found comedy in applying the most embarrassing possible interpretation to every instance.

The gesture's oldest documented meme-adjacent use traces to the 2013 Egyptian political crisis. After the violent crackdown on pro-Morsi demonstrators at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in August 2013, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood began holding up four fingers as a solidarity sign. The word "Rabaa" means "four" or "the fourth" in Arabic1. The symbol reportedly gained traction in Turkey first, where soccer players raised four fingers after scoring goals, before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan popularized it further1.

In American football, holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter is a long-standing tradition. As one columnist put it: "When the clock expires at the end of the third quarter, teams hold up four fingers to signify the beginning of the most important 15 minutes of the game"2.

The gesture took on new meaning in Florida hip-hop culture. On August 17, 2019, Urban Dictionary user Dale Jhit defined "4's Up" as "A term used in Florida to represent your 'hood' or 'block,'" specifically referencing North Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, and Broward County3. That same year, rapper DaBaby appeared on YouTube's Hot Ones series and discussed a photo where he told a school teacher to put her 4's up, a clip that racked up over 13 million views in three years4.

The definition that launched the TikTok trend came on August 22, 2021, when Urban Dictionary user juicypeaches.org wrote that "putting 4 fingers up in a picture is a way to secretly say your a homosexual and not ready to come out the closet yet"4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Urban Dictionary (definitions), TikTok (viral spread)
Key People
juicypeaches.org, @popeyieschicken
Date
2013 (political use), 2022 (viral meme trend)

The gesture's oldest documented meme-adjacent use traces to the 2013 Egyptian political crisis. After the violent crackdown on pro-Morsi demonstrators at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in August 2013, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood began holding up four fingers as a solidarity sign. The word "Rabaa" means "four" or "the fourth" in Arabic. The symbol reportedly gained traction in Turkey first, where soccer players raised four fingers after scoring goals, before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan popularized it further.

In American football, holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter is a long-standing tradition. As one columnist put it: "When the clock expires at the end of the third quarter, teams hold up four fingers to signify the beginning of the most important 15 minutes of the game".

The gesture took on new meaning in Florida hip-hop culture. On August 17, 2019, Urban Dictionary user Dale Jhit defined "4's Up" as "A term used in Florida to represent your 'hood' or 'block,'" specifically referencing North Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, and Broward County. That same year, rapper DaBaby appeared on YouTube's Hot Ones series and discussed a photo where he told a school teacher to put her 4's up, a clip that racked up over 13 million views in three years.

The definition that launched the TikTok trend came on August 22, 2021, when Urban Dictionary user juicypeaches.org wrote that "putting 4 fingers up in a picture is a way to secretly say your a homosexual and not ready to come out the closet yet".

How It Spread

The meme exploded on TikTok in March 2022. On March 16, TikToker @popeyieschicken posted a video showing the Urban Dictionary "secretly gay" definition followed by a montage of boys from their school holding up four fingers. Two days later, @girlsarenotfunny.com posted a similar video featuring students from her school doing the gesture, pulling in over 200,000 views within a month.

The format was simple and endlessly repeatable: show the definition, then cut to a slideshow of people (usually classmates, teammates, or friends) unknowingly doing the gesture. The humor landed because the subjects had no idea their photos would be recontextualized this way.

Throughout March and April 2022, the trend fed back into Urban Dictionary itself. Users began spam-creating new definitions for "4 fingers up," resulting in over 30 pages of entries by April 19. Some stuck with the "secretly gay" angle, while others invented new meanings. Definitions ranged from "4 fingers up shows that you are madly in love with me no questions asked" to claims that men holding up four fingers are "extremely heterosexual".

TikTokers ran with the creative definitions. On April 6, 2022, users @jflystr8_ and @ashveer.k posted videos using the "madly in love with me" definition alongside compilations of friends throwing up four fingers, each gaining over 40,000 views in two weeks.

How to Use This Meme

The TikTok format typically follows a standard structure:

1

Open with a screenshot of an Urban Dictionary definition for "4 fingers up" (either the original "secretly gay" one or a custom joke definition)

2

Cut to a slideshow of photos showing people holding up four fingers, usually people you know personally

3

The comedy comes from the mismatch between what the person meant by the gesture and the absurd definition applied to it

Cultural Impact

The 4 Fingers Up meme sits at an interesting intersection of gesture, context, and reinterpretation. The same physical motion carries weight in Middle Eastern politics, American football culture, regional hip-hop identity, and teen TikTok humor, all at the same time.

The 2013 Rabaa symbol carried serious political implications. The Atlantic noted that the Brotherhood's adoption of the four-finger gesture over the traditional V-for-Victory sign represented "a conscious shift in the Muslim Brotherhood's focus from a global audience to an Arabic one". The sign was deliberately constructed as political messaging, contrasting with the organic nature of the V sign during the Arab Spring.

On a lighter note, Alabama's football program turned the fourth-quarter tradition into a flex during their dominant 2018 season, where the Crimson Tide outscored opponents 433-106 through the first three quarters of games. The four-finger salute became less about signaling a crucial final period and more about reminding opponents how many touchdowns they'd need to catch up.

The 2022 TikTok wave turned the gesture into pure comedy by exploiting the ambiguity of a simple hand sign. The trend also demonstrated Urban Dictionary's role as a meme amplifier: the platform's open contribution model meant anyone could write a definition, and TikTokers could then "cite" that definition as if it were established fact.

Fun Facts

The Rabaa four-finger symbol reportedly originated with Turkish soccer players scoring goals, not with Egyptian protesters themselves.

DaBaby's Hot Ones clip where he discusses telling a teacher to put her 4's up hit 13 million views.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa only attempted three fourth-quarter passes during the 2018 regular season because the Crimson Tide's leads were so large he was benched before the fourth quarter in nearly every game.

By April 2022, Urban Dictionary had accumulated over 30 pages of competing definitions for "4 fingers up," many contradicting each other.

Frequently Asked Questions

4 Fingers Up

2013Hand gesture / social media trendsemi-active

Also known as: 4's Up · Four Fingers Up

4 Fingers Up is a hand gesture meme—four fingers held up with tucked thumb—originating from 2013, popularized by a 2022 TikTok trend featuring joke definitions claiming it means you're secretly gay or in love.

4 Fingers Up (also called "4's Up") is a hand gesture meme where a person holds up four fingers with the thumb tucked into the palm, back of the hand facing outward. The gesture carries wildly different meanings depending on context: a football tradition signaling the fourth quarter, a Florida gang sign repping your block, a political solidarity symbol from the 2013 Egyptian protests, and most recently, the subject of a viral 2022 TikTok trend built around joke Urban Dictionary definitions claiming anyone throwing up four fingers is secretly gay or madly in love with you.

hand gesture memes tiktok memes urban dictionary memes co opted memes double entendre memes

Overview

The 4 Fingers Up gesture is performed by raising four fingers with the thumb folded into the palm, back of the hand facing outward. What makes this meme unusual is that the exact same physical gesture means completely different things depending on who's doing it and where. Football players throw it up at the start of the fourth quarter. In parts of South Florida, it's a way of repping your neighborhood. In 2013, Egyptian protesters adopted it as the Rabaa symbol to honor those killed at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. And on TikTok in 2022, it became the centerpiece of a running joke where users compiled photos of people doing the gesture and paired them with absurd Urban Dictionary definitions.

The meme's humor comes from the collision of all these meanings. Someone throwing four fingers up in a football photo, a group selfie, or a rap video could be doing it for any number of reasons, but TikTok users found comedy in applying the most embarrassing possible interpretation to every instance.

The gesture's oldest documented meme-adjacent use traces to the 2013 Egyptian political crisis. After the violent crackdown on pro-Morsi demonstrators at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in August 2013, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood began holding up four fingers as a solidarity sign. The word "Rabaa" means "four" or "the fourth" in Arabic. The symbol reportedly gained traction in Turkey first, where soccer players raised four fingers after scoring goals, before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan popularized it further.

In American football, holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter is a long-standing tradition. As one columnist put it: "When the clock expires at the end of the third quarter, teams hold up four fingers to signify the beginning of the most important 15 minutes of the game".

The gesture took on new meaning in Florida hip-hop culture. On August 17, 2019, Urban Dictionary user Dale Jhit defined "4's Up" as "A term used in Florida to represent your 'hood' or 'block,'" specifically referencing North Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, and Broward County. That same year, rapper DaBaby appeared on YouTube's Hot Ones series and discussed a photo where he told a school teacher to put her 4's up, a clip that racked up over 13 million views in three years.

The definition that launched the TikTok trend came on August 22, 2021, when Urban Dictionary user juicypeaches.org wrote that "putting 4 fingers up in a picture is a way to secretly say your a homosexual and not ready to come out the closet yet".

Origin & Background

Platform
Urban Dictionary (definitions), TikTok (viral spread)
Key People
juicypeaches.org, @popeyieschicken
Date
2013 (political use), 2022 (viral meme trend)

The gesture's oldest documented meme-adjacent use traces to the 2013 Egyptian political crisis. After the violent crackdown on pro-Morsi demonstrators at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in August 2013, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood began holding up four fingers as a solidarity sign. The word "Rabaa" means "four" or "the fourth" in Arabic. The symbol reportedly gained traction in Turkey first, where soccer players raised four fingers after scoring goals, before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan popularized it further.

In American football, holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter is a long-standing tradition. As one columnist put it: "When the clock expires at the end of the third quarter, teams hold up four fingers to signify the beginning of the most important 15 minutes of the game".

The gesture took on new meaning in Florida hip-hop culture. On August 17, 2019, Urban Dictionary user Dale Jhit defined "4's Up" as "A term used in Florida to represent your 'hood' or 'block,'" specifically referencing North Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, and Broward County. That same year, rapper DaBaby appeared on YouTube's Hot Ones series and discussed a photo where he told a school teacher to put her 4's up, a clip that racked up over 13 million views in three years.

The definition that launched the TikTok trend came on August 22, 2021, when Urban Dictionary user juicypeaches.org wrote that "putting 4 fingers up in a picture is a way to secretly say your a homosexual and not ready to come out the closet yet".

How It Spread

The meme exploded on TikTok in March 2022. On March 16, TikToker @popeyieschicken posted a video showing the Urban Dictionary "secretly gay" definition followed by a montage of boys from their school holding up four fingers. Two days later, @girlsarenotfunny.com posted a similar video featuring students from her school doing the gesture, pulling in over 200,000 views within a month.

The format was simple and endlessly repeatable: show the definition, then cut to a slideshow of people (usually classmates, teammates, or friends) unknowingly doing the gesture. The humor landed because the subjects had no idea their photos would be recontextualized this way.

Throughout March and April 2022, the trend fed back into Urban Dictionary itself. Users began spam-creating new definitions for "4 fingers up," resulting in over 30 pages of entries by April 19. Some stuck with the "secretly gay" angle, while others invented new meanings. Definitions ranged from "4 fingers up shows that you are madly in love with me no questions asked" to claims that men holding up four fingers are "extremely heterosexual".

TikTokers ran with the creative definitions. On April 6, 2022, users @jflystr8_ and @ashveer.k posted videos using the "madly in love with me" definition alongside compilations of friends throwing up four fingers, each gaining over 40,000 views in two weeks.

How to Use This Meme

The TikTok format typically follows a standard structure:

1

Open with a screenshot of an Urban Dictionary definition for "4 fingers up" (either the original "secretly gay" one or a custom joke definition)

2

Cut to a slideshow of photos showing people holding up four fingers, usually people you know personally

3

The comedy comes from the mismatch between what the person meant by the gesture and the absurd definition applied to it

Cultural Impact

The 4 Fingers Up meme sits at an interesting intersection of gesture, context, and reinterpretation. The same physical motion carries weight in Middle Eastern politics, American football culture, regional hip-hop identity, and teen TikTok humor, all at the same time.

The 2013 Rabaa symbol carried serious political implications. The Atlantic noted that the Brotherhood's adoption of the four-finger gesture over the traditional V-for-Victory sign represented "a conscious shift in the Muslim Brotherhood's focus from a global audience to an Arabic one". The sign was deliberately constructed as political messaging, contrasting with the organic nature of the V sign during the Arab Spring.

On a lighter note, Alabama's football program turned the fourth-quarter tradition into a flex during their dominant 2018 season, where the Crimson Tide outscored opponents 433-106 through the first three quarters of games. The four-finger salute became less about signaling a crucial final period and more about reminding opponents how many touchdowns they'd need to catch up.

The 2022 TikTok wave turned the gesture into pure comedy by exploiting the ambiguity of a simple hand sign. The trend also demonstrated Urban Dictionary's role as a meme amplifier: the platform's open contribution model meant anyone could write a definition, and TikTokers could then "cite" that definition as if it were established fact.

Fun Facts

The Rabaa four-finger symbol reportedly originated with Turkish soccer players scoring goals, not with Egyptian protesters themselves.

DaBaby's Hot Ones clip where he discusses telling a teacher to put her 4's up hit 13 million views.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa only attempted three fourth-quarter passes during the 2018 regular season because the Crimson Tide's leads were so large he was benched before the fourth quarter in nearly every game.

By April 2022, Urban Dictionary had accumulated over 30 pages of competing definitions for "4 fingers up," many contradicting each other.

Frequently Asked Questions