# Copypasta Copypasta is internet slang for a block of text that gets copied and pasted repeatedly across forums, chats, and social feeds. The word blends "copy," "paste," and "pasta," and it took off on 4chan and Usenet around 2006 before spreading to Reddit and mainstream dictionaries. ## Overview Copypasta is any chunk of text that people copy and paste into new conversations again and again, often as a joke, a bait post, or an ironic reply that has nothing to do with the thread it lands in[2]. The word itself is a portmanteau of "copy," "paste," and "pasta," which is roughly what "paste-a" sounds like when said out loud[3]. Unlike spam, which is pumped out by bots and mail servers, copypasta spreads by hand[3]. Someone thinks a wall of text is funny, weird, or infuriating enough to save, then drops it into a new thread whenever the moment fits. The format has no fixed length or subject, so a copypasta can be a two-line one-liner, a rambling personal story, or a full essay written entirely in leetspeak. ## How It Spread On September 9, 2009, Redditor Null_Slate started the /r/copypasta subreddit as a dedicated place to share and archive text pastas, and the community grew into a large library of Navy Seal rants, sports fan meltdowns, and other reliably reposted blocks of text[4]. Merriam-Webster picked up on the word on September 14, 2018, adding "copypasta" to its Words We're Watching series that tracks slang moving toward dictionary status[5]. By that point, the term was well known across Twitch chat, Discord servers, and TikTok comment sections, where short pastas like the Navy Seal rant were still being pasted for reactions[3]. The format is still one of the main ways old jokes travel between sites. A single funny post can be pulled off Reddit, quoted on Twitter, screenshotted for Instagram, and pasted verbatim into a Discord channel within a day, keeping years of old bits in active circulation[4]. ## How to Use Making a copypasta usually starts by finding a text post that reads funny out of context, then sharing it word for word into unrelated threads. Common conventions include preserving the original formatting, typos, and line breaks exactly, and dropping the paste into a conversation where it makes no sense to maximize the joke[3]. Some pastas are edited to swap in a target name or subject, but purists often insist on posting the original verbatim[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Copypasta? Copypasta is internet slang for a block of text that gets copied and pasted repeatedly across forums, chats, and social feeds, usually as a joke or bait post[3]. ### Where did Copypasta come from? The word appeared on Usenet and 4chan imageboards around 2006, with the earliest public definition posted to Urban Dictionary on April 20, 2006 by user Elexus[2]. ### What does Copypasta mean? It is a portmanteau of "copy," "paste," and "pasta," describing text that people paste over and over into new threads by hand rather than through automated spam[3]. ### How do you use Copypasta? People copy a funny or absurd text post word for word, preserving typos and formatting, and paste it into unrelated conversations to bait replies or amuse other users[3]. ### Is Copypasta still popular? Yes, copypasta is still a common format on Reddit, Twitch, Discord, and TikTok, and Merriam-Webster added it to its Words We're Watching list on September 14, 2018[5]. ## References 1. [https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/19/21144516/larry-tesler-cut-copy-paste-dies-at-74-apple-xerox-amazon-obituary]() 2. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Copypasta]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/copypasta]() 4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/copypasta/]() 5. [https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-were-watching-copypasta]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/copypasta Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library