# Best I Can Do Is Rick Harrison repeated the line "best I can do is X" across seasons of Pawn Stars, delivering insultingly low offers after an expert appraisal. By April 2012, Redditors were turning the catchphrase into a dedicated image macro format, splitting it off from earlier Advice Animals jokes about Harrison and locking the structure to the lowball punchline. ## Origin Rick Harrison said "best I can do is X" throughout the run of Pawn Stars, the History series set at his Las Vegas pawn shop, where a customer would describe an item, an expert would appraise it, and Harrison would answer with a number many viewers considered a lowball[1]. In mid-2010, Harrison first appeared as the face of an Advice Animals macro, with top text naming something valuable and bottom text giving his cheap offer, according to Know Your Meme[3]. By early 2012, the generic Advice Animals use split off into a dedicated "Best I Can Do Is" format focused entirely on the lowball punchline. Redditor Kilser posted the earliest archived example to r/memes on April 8, 2012, where the thread picked up five upvotes before being archived[2]. - **Platform:** Pawn Stars (TV source) / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2012 ## Overview A typical post shows a still of Rick Harrison from Pawn Stars with two lines of caption. The top line names an item or situation worth real money, and the bottom line gives Harrison's answer: "Best I Can Do Is $20" or some similarly tiny number. The joke works off Harrison's deadpan screen presence and his reputation for insulting counteroffers on the show[3]. Later edits apply the structure beyond physical objects, so the "item" might be an abstract thing like a job offer, a relationship, or a situation the poster is complaining about, and the counteroffer is an absurd nonsense trade[4]. Pawn Stars viewers already associate Harrison with these cheap appraisals, since he actually delivered them across multiple seasons of the show, which fans assembled into supercut compilations on YouTube[1]. ## How to Use People typically start with a still of Harrison, often an expression that reads as unimpressed, and attach a two-part caption. The top line names a valuable item or situation, and the bottom line gives Harrison's answer, usually "Best I Can Do Is" followed by an insultingly small number. A common convention is to exaggerate the appraisal in the setup and keep the counteroffer short and specific, like "$20" or "fifty cents." ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Best I Can Do Is? An image macro catchphrase format drawn from Rick Harrison on Pawn Stars, where he answers an item appraisal with an insulting lowball offer[3]. ### Where did Best I Can Do Is come from? Rick Harrison said the line often on Pawn Stars[1], and Redditor Kilser posted the earliest archived meme version to r/memes on April 8, 2012[2]. ### What does Best I Can Do Is mean? The joke sets up something clearly valuable, then undercuts it with a tiny counteroffer, playing on Harrison's reputation for stingy appraisals on the show[3]. ### How do you use Best I Can Do Is? People start with a photo of Harrison and add top text naming a valuable item or situation, then bottom text giving an absurdly low offer like "Best I Can Do Is $20"[4]. ### Is Best I Can Do Is still popular? The format saw a 2019 revival on r/dankmemes, where a repost by OverIntention reached around 30,000 upvotes within six months[4], keeping the catchphrase in circulation on meme feeds after its 2012 origin[3]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pflDZiybnsk]() 2. [https://reddit.com/r/memes/comments/rz36j/pawn_stars_best_i_can_do_is_20/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/best-i-can-do-is]() 4. [https://old.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/cnzxao/hot_deal/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/best-i-can-do-is Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library