Gentlemen

2008image macroclassic

Gentlemen is a Team Fortress 2 voice line spoken by the Spy character that grew into a widely edited image macro showing Spy with a mouthful of lit cigarettes. The joke first spread on 4chan in early 2008 and picked up new fuel when Valve's Meet the Spy short landed in 2009.

gamingexploitable templatescatchphrase memes4chan memeslate 2000s memes

Overview

Gentlemen has two linked pieces that fans usually treat as one bit. The first is a spoken line from Team Fortress 2's Spy, who drawls a slow "Gentlemen…" as a voice command and as the opening beat of Valve's promotional short for the character2. The second is an image macro showing the Spy in his balaclava with a huge bundle of lit cigarettes crammed into his mouth, cherries glowing3.

The picture works as an exploitable template. Editors swap the Spy for other characters or trade the cigarettes for pens, syringes, weapons, food, or anything else that will visually cram into a face3. The catchphrase itself often runs on top of the image or gets used on its own as a smug, mock-formal greeting in Team Fortress fan spaces and general chan threads1.

How It Spread

Through the late 2000s and into the 2010s, Team Fortress fans and 4chan posters kept the joke moving by producing hundreds of remixes that swapped the Spy or the cigarettes for other subjects3. Some edits kept the Team Fortress cast and just changed the object in the mouth; others dropped in cartoon characters, politicians, or unrelated mascots.

The Team Fortress community wiki logs the bit under its Community Fads section, placing it alongside other long-running fan jokes tied to the game1. On 4chan, users pushed the gag further by declaring June 5th "Gentlemen's Holiday," a self-imposed rule that bans new Gentlemen threads on every other day of the year3.

Outside dedicated Team Fortress spaces, the greeting picked up a second life as a smug opener. Urban Dictionary entries from users describe it being tossed around as a mock-formal way to address a group of friends4, echoing the tone the Spy delivers in the Valve short2.

How to Use This Meme

The classic Gentlemen edit takes the Team Fortress 2 Spy and jams a fan of lit cigarettes into his mouth, typically kept in the original comic-book art style. To make your own, swap either half of that: change the character (any recognizable face works, though villain-coded or smug characters land best) or change the object (pens, needles, guns, snacks, tools). The "Gentlemen…" caption is often added on top, drawn out with an ellipsis to match the Spy's delivery in Meet the Spy2. The line also works on its own as a smug or sarcastic greeting in chat and forum posts1.

Frequently Asked Questions

Gentlemen

2008image macroclassic

Gentlemen is a Team Fortress 2 voice line spoken by the Spy character that grew into a widely edited image macro showing Spy with a mouthful of lit cigarettes. The joke first spread on 4chan in early 2008 and picked up new fuel when Valve's Meet the Spy short landed in 2009.

gaming exploitable templates catchphrase memes 4chan memes late 2000s memes

Overview

Gentlemen has two linked pieces that fans usually treat as one bit. The first is a spoken line from Team Fortress 2's Spy, who drawls a slow "Gentlemen…" as a voice command and as the opening beat of Valve's promotional short for the character2. The second is an image macro showing the Spy in his balaclava with a huge bundle of lit cigarettes crammed into his mouth, cherries glowing3.

The picture works as an exploitable template. Editors swap the Spy for other characters or trade the cigarettes for pens, syringes, weapons, food, or anything else that will visually cram into a face3. The catchphrase itself often runs on top of the image or gets used on its own as a smug, mock-formal greeting in Team Fortress fan spaces and general chan threads1.

How It Spread

Through the late 2000s and into the 2010s, Team Fortress fans and 4chan posters kept the joke moving by producing hundreds of remixes that swapped the Spy or the cigarettes for other subjects3. Some edits kept the Team Fortress cast and just changed the object in the mouth; others dropped in cartoon characters, politicians, or unrelated mascots.

The Team Fortress community wiki logs the bit under its Community Fads section, placing it alongside other long-running fan jokes tied to the game1. On 4chan, users pushed the gag further by declaring June 5th "Gentlemen's Holiday," a self-imposed rule that bans new Gentlemen threads on every other day of the year3.

Outside dedicated Team Fortress spaces, the greeting picked up a second life as a smug opener. Urban Dictionary entries from users describe it being tossed around as a mock-formal way to address a group of friends4, echoing the tone the Spy delivers in the Valve short2.

How to Use This Meme

The classic Gentlemen edit takes the Team Fortress 2 Spy and jams a fan of lit cigarettes into his mouth, typically kept in the original comic-book art style. To make your own, swap either half of that: change the character (any recognizable face works, though villain-coded or smug characters land best) or change the object (pens, needles, guns, snacks, tools). The "Gentlemen…" caption is often added on top, drawn out with an ellipsis to match the Spy's delivery in Meet the Spy2. The line also works on its own as a smug or sarcastic greeting in chat and forum posts1.

Frequently Asked Questions