69

2008catchphraseclassic

69 is the internet's favorite sex number, and online tradition dictates you reply 'nice' to any post containing it, regardless of context. The number-plus-nice pairing took hold around 2008 and became a running gag across Twitter, Reddit, and comment sections throughout the 2010s.

number memescatchphrase memesdouble entendre memescall and response memeslate 2000s memes

Overview

69 is a slang number tied to a sex position, and online it functions as a trigger word for a one-line reply: 'nice'1. Whenever the digits show up in a tweet, headline, stat, jersey number, or timestamp, someone is expected to answer with that single word, no matter how serious the surrounding context is1.

The joke works because it is context-blind. A poll result, a football play-by-play, or a presidential tweet all get the same treatment, which is most of the humor2. Urban Dictionary's top entry from 2003 spells out the sexual meaning of the number in blunt terms and had racked up more than 20,600 upvotes within roughly fourteen years3.

How It Spread

The Daily Dot's June 2017 history of the joke traced the 'nice' reply back to a 2006 South Park episode, 'Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy,' in which cops respond to news of a teacher-student incident with a flat 'Nice'1. That deadpan approval got welded to the number in Twitter replies from 2008 onward, including a 2009 exchange where a user replied 'nice' to Al Michaels's line about Vikings player Jared Allen wearing #691.

By the mid-2010s the practice was reflexive. When Barack Obama tweeted on May 13, 2016 that 69 percent of Americans wanted Senate hearings for his Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, the reply column filled with 'nice'2. On February 13, 2019, Donald Trump posted about a Gallup poll saying '69% of our great citizens expect their finances to improve next year, a 16 year high. Nice!' The tweet used both halves of the joke in a single post6.

Reactions split between celebration and mourning. A Jesus Christ parody account called it Trump's best tweet ever, while reporter Ashley Feinberg tweeted 'folks i'm sorry, 69 is cancelled,' pulling more than 740 likes within about half an hour2. Mashable's coverage described the moment as 'effectively killing the internet's most beloved tradition'6.

How to Use This Meme

Using 69 is the least demanding meme on the internet. Spot the digits in any post, comment, headline, score line, or timestamp, and reply with a single word: 'nice.' No punctuation, no elaboration, no acknowledgment of the surrounding topic. The joke depends on the mismatch between the seriousness of the source post and the flatness of the reply, so straight-faced delivery is the common convention1.

Frequently Asked Questions

69

2008catchphraseclassic

69 is the internet's favorite sex number, and online tradition dictates you reply 'nice' to any post containing it, regardless of context. The number-plus-nice pairing took hold around 2008 and became a running gag across Twitter, Reddit, and comment sections throughout the 2010s.

number memes catchphrase memes double entendre memes call and response memes late 2000s memes

Overview

69 is a slang number tied to a sex position, and online it functions as a trigger word for a one-line reply: 'nice'1. Whenever the digits show up in a tweet, headline, stat, jersey number, or timestamp, someone is expected to answer with that single word, no matter how serious the surrounding context is1.

The joke works because it is context-blind. A poll result, a football play-by-play, or a presidential tweet all get the same treatment, which is most of the humor2. Urban Dictionary's top entry from 2003 spells out the sexual meaning of the number in blunt terms and had racked up more than 20,600 upvotes within roughly fourteen years3.

How It Spread

The Daily Dot's June 2017 history of the joke traced the 'nice' reply back to a 2006 South Park episode, 'Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy,' in which cops respond to news of a teacher-student incident with a flat 'Nice'1. That deadpan approval got welded to the number in Twitter replies from 2008 onward, including a 2009 exchange where a user replied 'nice' to Al Michaels's line about Vikings player Jared Allen wearing #691.

By the mid-2010s the practice was reflexive. When Barack Obama tweeted on May 13, 2016 that 69 percent of Americans wanted Senate hearings for his Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, the reply column filled with 'nice'2. On February 13, 2019, Donald Trump posted about a Gallup poll saying '69% of our great citizens expect their finances to improve next year, a 16 year high. Nice!' The tweet used both halves of the joke in a single post6.

Reactions split between celebration and mourning. A Jesus Christ parody account called it Trump's best tweet ever, while reporter Ashley Feinberg tweeted 'folks i'm sorry, 69 is cancelled,' pulling more than 740 likes within about half an hour2. Mashable's coverage described the moment as 'effectively killing the internet's most beloved tradition'6.

How to Use This Meme

Using 69 is the least demanding meme on the internet. Spot the digits in any post, comment, headline, score line, or timestamp, and reply with a single word: 'nice.' No punctuation, no elaboration, no acknowledgment of the surrounding topic. The joke depends on the mismatch between the seriousness of the source post and the flatness of the reply, so straight-faced delivery is the common convention1.

Frequently Asked Questions