# Let That Sink In "Let That Sink In" is a visual pun meme that takes the common English expression meaning "think deeply about something" and interprets it literally, depicting an actual sink standing at a doorway waiting to be let inside. The joke originated on Tumblr in March 2014 and saw a major resurgence in October 2022 when Elon Musk walked into Twitter headquarters carrying a physical sink on the day he finalized his acquisition of the company[2]. ## Origin On March 24, 2014, Tumblr user dutchstar responded to a post by another user named worldpeaces, who had written "just let that fucking sink in"[1]. Dutchstar replied with a photoshopped image of a bathroom sink standing in an open doorway, as if it were a guest asking to come inside. This was the first known pairing of the literal sink image with the catchphrase as a visual pun[1]. - **Platform:** Tumblr - **Creator:** dutchstar (original Tumblr post) - **Date:** 2014 ## Overview The meme plays on the double meaning of the phrase "let that sink in." In normal usage, the expression asks someone to pause and absorb a surprising or significant piece of information[3]. The meme flips this into a literal visual gag: a sink, usually photoshopped into a doorway, is waiting to be "let in" like a visitor[1]. The humor is deliberately corny, falling squarely into the dad-joke category of internet comedy. The format typically appears as a reaction to someone posting a dramatic statement followed by "let that sink in," with the punchline image undercutting the seriousness. ## How It Spread The meme circulated steadily across social platforms throughout the late 2010s, popping up whenever someone used the phrase "let that sink in" in an earnest or dramatic context. On March 31, 2020, Redditor greedo_is_my_fursona posted a variation to r/Okbuddyretard using a modded version of Minecraft (the "Cooking for Blockheads" mod) that included a placeable sink, earning over 1,200 upvotes[1]. The meme's biggest moment came on October 26, 2022, when Elon Musk carried a real kitchen sink into Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on the day he completed his $44 billion purchase of the company[1]. Musk tweeted a video of himself walking through the lobby holding the sink with the caption "Entering Twitter HQ — let that sink in!" The tweet earned over one million likes in a single day[1]. The stunt turned an aging internet pun into a global news story, with the image appearing across headlines worldwide. Musk's version worked on multiple levels: the obvious pun, the theatrical display of ownership, and the implicit message that major changes were coming to the platform. ## How to Use The meme typically works in one of two ways: 1. **As a reaction:** When someone posts a dramatic fact or statement ending with "let that sink in," reply with the image of a sink at a door. The deflation of the serious tone is the joke. 2. **As a standalone pun:** Post the sink-in-doorway image with or without the caption "let that sink in" after sharing any kind of information, serious or trivial. The more mundane the preceding statement, the funnier the pun lands. 3. **Physical reenactment:** Following Musk's 2022 stunt, people began recreating the joke IRL by bringing actual sinks to doorways and posting photos or videos. ## Cultural Impact Elon Musk's October 2022 use of the meme marked one of the most high-profile instances of a public figure deliberately referencing an internet meme during a major corporate event[1]. The sink stunt was covered by virtually every major news outlet and became the defining image of Musk's Twitter takeover. It also showed how a simple internet pun could be used as a PR move, turning what might have been a tense corporate transition into a shareable moment. The phrase itself predates the meme by decades as a standard English idiom[3]. Urban Dictionary entries define it both in its traditional sense ("think hard about something and understand what it truly means") and in its literal meme sense ("to find a sink at your door, and letting it inside")[3]. ## Fun Facts - The original 2014 Tumblr post was a direct reply to a user who used the phrase completely sincerely, making the comedic timing perfect[1]. - The Minecraft version used a specific mod called "Cooking for Blockheads" that happened to include a sink as a placeable block[1]. - Musk's sink tweet getting over a million likes in one day made it one of the most-engaged posts on Twitter in 2022[1]. - Urban Dictionary lists at least three distinct definitions for the phrase, ranging from the philosophical to the completely literal[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Let That Sink In? It's a visual pun meme that takes the expression "let that sink in" (meaning "think about it deeply") and shows a literal sink at a doorway, waiting to be allowed inside[3][1]. ### Where did Let That Sink In come from? Tumblr user dutchstar created the first known version on March 24, 2014, in response to another user who wrote "just let that fucking sink in"[1]. ### What does Let That Sink In mean? The original phrase means to pause and absorb important information[3]. The meme deliberately misinterprets this as letting a physical sink enter a building[1]. ### How do you use Let That Sink In? Post the image of a sink in a doorway as a reply whenever someone uses the phrase "let that sink in" seriously, or use it as a standalone pun after sharing any statement[1]. ### Is Let That Sink In still popular? The meme saw its biggest spike in October 2022 thanks to Elon Musk's Twitter stunt, and the pun gets reliably dusted off whenever the phrase appears in online conversation[1]. ### Why did Elon Musk carry a sink into Twitter? On October 26, 2022, Musk walked into Twitter headquarters carrying a kitchen sink on the day he finalized his acquisition of the company, tweeting "let that sink in" as both a pun and a declaration of ownership[1]. ### How many likes did Musk's sink tweet get? The tweet earned over one million likes within a single day of being posted[1]. ### Who created the Let That Sink In meme? Tumblr user dutchstar created the first known version by replying to user worldpeaces with a photoshopped image of a sink in an open doorway[1]. ### What was the Minecraft version of the meme? In March 2020, a Reddit user created a version using the "Cooking for Blockheads" Minecraft mod, placing a sink block at a door within the game, which earned over 1,200 upvotes on r/Okbuddyretard[1]. ## References 1. [Sinking of the Moskva]() 2. [Let That Sink In - Urban Dictionary]() 3. [Let That Sink In - Know Your Meme]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/let-that-sink-in Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library