All Right Then Keep Your Secrets

2001reaction imageclassic

All Right Then Keep Your Secrets is a reaction image taken from a 2001 scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo pouts at Gandalf for staying silent. It took off on Reddit, Twitter and Facebook in 2018 as a punchline for anyone getting stonewalled mid-conversation.

reaction memeslord of the ringsmovie quote memesdelayed virality memesfacial expression memes

Overview

All Right Then Keep Your Secrets is a reaction image built from a single shot of Frodo Baggins, played by Elijah Wood, mid-pout as Gandalf refuses to spill what he knows about Bilbo1. The frame is instantly recognizable: Frodo tilts his head, narrows his eyes and gives the wizard the smallest hint of a smirk, the kind of face you make when someone obviously has receipts and won't share them8.

Online, people slap the still on top of setups about anyone stonewalling them, from silent cats to school WiFi filters7. The joke works because Frodo's expression is petulant but polite, a very hobbit way of saying fine, be like that.

How It Spread

The image took off across social platforms in the summer of 2018. On June 10th, the Facebook page sadmaymaythief posted a screencap captioned "when I am high and talking to a tree but he won't answer," collecting more than 400 reactions and 200 shares within six months3. A week later, on June 17th, Twitter user @mikediva reused the still with the caption "When I'm talking to my cat and she doesn't answer," pulling in over 40 retweets and 280 likes4.

Reddit is where the format really landed. On August 18th, 2018, u/yeeeheeeeheee posted the image to a thread titled "When you ask a girl for her number at the bar and she tells you to go away," which climbed past 18,000 upvotes with a 93% upvote ratio5. That same day, u/Atrampoline dropped a GIF version in r/reactiongifs that hit more than 32,000 points and 200 comments in two months6.

Two months later, on October 18th, 2018, Redditor Kohlastro brought the format to r/dankmemes with an image macro captioned "When you turn on vpn while using the school wifi"7. From there the still settled in as a standard reaction for any situation where someone or something refuses to answer.

How to Use This Meme

The template is typically the raw screencap of Frodo mid-line, either as a standalone reaction to a post that goes unanswered or with a top caption describing the silent party. A common convention is the "when I ask X and they don't answer" setup, where X is a cat, a crush, a chatbot, a coworker, or anything else known for going quiet57. The GIF version often gets dropped as a comment reply when someone dodges a question in a thread6.

Frequently Asked Questions

All Right Then Keep Your Secrets

2001reaction imageclassic

All Right Then Keep Your Secrets is a reaction image taken from a 2001 scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo pouts at Gandalf for staying silent. It took off on Reddit, Twitter and Facebook in 2018 as a punchline for anyone getting stonewalled mid-conversation.

reaction memes lord of the rings movie quote memes delayed virality memes facial expression memes

Overview

All Right Then Keep Your Secrets is a reaction image built from a single shot of Frodo Baggins, played by Elijah Wood, mid-pout as Gandalf refuses to spill what he knows about Bilbo1. The frame is instantly recognizable: Frodo tilts his head, narrows his eyes and gives the wizard the smallest hint of a smirk, the kind of face you make when someone obviously has receipts and won't share them8.

Online, people slap the still on top of setups about anyone stonewalling them, from silent cats to school WiFi filters7. The joke works because Frodo's expression is petulant but polite, a very hobbit way of saying fine, be like that.

How It Spread

The image took off across social platforms in the summer of 2018. On June 10th, the Facebook page sadmaymaythief posted a screencap captioned "when I am high and talking to a tree but he won't answer," collecting more than 400 reactions and 200 shares within six months3. A week later, on June 17th, Twitter user @mikediva reused the still with the caption "When I'm talking to my cat and she doesn't answer," pulling in over 40 retweets and 280 likes4.

Reddit is where the format really landed. On August 18th, 2018, u/yeeeheeeeheee posted the image to a thread titled "When you ask a girl for her number at the bar and she tells you to go away," which climbed past 18,000 upvotes with a 93% upvote ratio5. That same day, u/Atrampoline dropped a GIF version in r/reactiongifs that hit more than 32,000 points and 200 comments in two months6.

Two months later, on October 18th, 2018, Redditor Kohlastro brought the format to r/dankmemes with an image macro captioned "When you turn on vpn while using the school wifi"7. From there the still settled in as a standard reaction for any situation where someone or something refuses to answer.

How to Use This Meme

The template is typically the raw screencap of Frodo mid-line, either as a standalone reaction to a post that goes unanswered or with a top caption describing the silent party. A common convention is the "when I ask X and they don't answer" setup, where X is a cat, a crush, a chatbot, a coworker, or anything else known for going quiet57. The GIF version often gets dropped as a comment reply when someone dodges a question in a thread6.

Frequently Asked Questions