# Laughing Lizard

Laughing Lizard, also known as hhhehehe, is a 2011 image macro built from a 2009 Flickr photo of a horned lizard whose slightly open mouth looks like a human chuckle. A Tumblr user slapped the interior monologue caption 'hhhehehe' on the picture, and it became one of the go-to reaction images for lowbrow amusement across early-2010s Tumblr and Reddit.

## Origin
The base image comes from nature photographer Casey Myers, who uploaded the shot to Flickr on April 24, 2009, after spotting the horned lizard at the Tonto National Forest Campgrounds near Lake Roosevelt in Arizona[3]. In the picture, the lizard's mouth hangs slightly open, which gave the animal an accidental grin.

The meme version arrived on August 17, 2011, when Tumblr user effington reposted the photo with the 'hhhehehe' caption stamped over the lizard's mouth[2]. That single edit turned a wildlife photo into a reaction image, and by mid-2014 the post had picked up more than 14,000 notes[1].

- **Platform:** Flickr (source photo) / Tumblr (viral spread)
- **Creator:** effington (Tumblr caption); photo by Casey Myers
- **Date:** 2011

## Overview
Laughing Lizard, also known as hhhehehe, pairs a close-up photograph of a horned lizard with the overlaid text 'hhhehehe' positioned near its mouth in the style of an interior monologue caption[2]. The lizard's slightly agape mouth reads as a stifled chuckle, and the crude typed laugh sells the gag without any additional context[1].

People typically drop the image into replies and reblog chains when something strikes them as silly, dumb, or lowbrow, treating it like a wordless snicker. The joke works because the caption anthropomorphizes an otherwise blank-faced reptile, and Tumblr users kept it in rotation for years as a lightweight reaction image alongside other early-2010s animal macros[1].

## How It Spread
The image jumped platforms fast. On September 12, 2011, Redditor discovergeneralmills spun up the subreddit /r/laughinglizards/ as a dedicated home for the format[1]. Back on Tumblr, the #laughing lizard tag kept feeding new posts through 2012, with reblogs from sweetneverafter in June and vaalon in November each clearing 600 notes[1].

The format's biggest single hit came on November 28, 2012, when Tumblr user dandy-pants posted a version that eventually racked up more than 92,000 notes[1]. Momentum carried into January 2013, with posts from memelibrarian on the 17th and voldyrule on the 18th each passing 5,000 notes[1].

By 2014, the trend had cooled off considerably, though the lizard kept circulating in new formats, including an animated GIF version published via MemeCollection on July 15, 2014[1]. It settled into the background as a classic Tumblr-era reaction image rather than a still-trending format.

## How to Use
To use Laughing Lizard, people typically post the captioned horned lizard image as a reply or reblog when something reads as silly, dumb, or lowbrow, letting the 'hhhehehe' stand in for a snicker. The common convention is to leave the original caption untouched rather than swap in new text, since the strength of the joke is the specific typed laugh.

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Laughing Lizard?
Laughing Lizard, also called hhhehehe, is an image macro of a horned lizard captioned with the interior monologue 'hhhehehe', used as a reaction to something silly or lowbrow[1].

### Where did Laughing Lizard come from?
The source photo was uploaded to Flickr by nature photographer Casey Myers on April 24, 2009[3], and Tumblr user effington added the 'hhhehehe' caption on August 17, 2011[2].

### What does Laughing Lizard mean?
It reads as a stifled chuckle at something dumb, with the typed 'hhhehehe' functioning as the lizard's interior laughter[2].

### How do you use Laughing Lizard?
People typically drop the captioned image into replies, reblogs, or comments when they find something silly, treating it like a wordless snicker[1].

### Is Laughing Lizard still popular?
Its peak was 2011 to 2013 on Tumblr and Reddit, and by 2014 activity had cooled significantly, though it survives as a classic reaction image[1].

## References
1. [https://www.flickriver.com/photos/eternalphotography/3475266224/](<https://www.flickriver.com/photos/eternalphotography/3475266224/>)
2. [https://effington.tumblr.com/](<https://effington.tumblr.com/>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/laughing-lizard-hhhehehe](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/laughing-lizard-hhhehehe>)
4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/laughinglizards/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/laughinglizards/>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/laughing-lizard-hhhehehe
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library