# Lie Down Lie Down / Try Not to Cry / Cry a Lot started as a joke workout poster in a 2010 CollegeHumor article about parody gym diagrams. By late 2012, internet users were editing the fetal-position drawing into pop culture scenes and pairing the phrase with sad news, turning a one-off gag into a durable reaction template for online grief. ## Origin On September 10, 2010, CollegeHumor published 'Realistic Gym Workout Diagrams,' a set of parody posters spoofing gym instructional signage[1]. One panel showed a man in the fetal position with the caption 'Lie Down. Try Not to Cry. Cry a Lot.,' and the illustration was later credited to CollegeHumor artist Caldwell Tanner[3]. The panel sat mostly quiet for two years before it started spreading on its own as an exploitable[4]. - **Platform:** CollegeHumor (source), Tumblr (viral spread) - **Creator:** Caldwell Tanner - **Date:** 2010 ## Overview The format usually pairs Caldwell Tanner's simple line drawing of a man curled into a fetal ball with the three-step instruction 'Lie Down. Try Not to Cry. Cry a Lot.'[1] Editors swap the crying figure for cartoon characters, actors, or fictional heroes to signal that a scene, series finale, or character death has wrecked them emotionally[2]. The comic also travels unaltered as a reaction image, stacked below a heartwarming or devastating post to caption the reader's response[4]. The tone rides the line between mock melodrama and sincere sadness. Common variants target series endings, character deaths, and fandom disappointments, from anime episodes to season finales[5]. The drawing is spare enough that even minor edits, such as swapping the head or dropping in a background, read instantly as the same joke. ## How It Spread Standalone edits of the fetal-position drawing began circulating in late 2012, when users started swapping the figure's identity to match specific fandoms and losses[4]. On March 5, 2013, the entertainment site Mandatory compiled several of these edits into a roundup post titled 'Lie Down. Try Not to Cry. Cry a Lot. An Emotional Meme Collection,' giving the format wider visibility outside imageboards[2]. The meme kept a long tail on Tumblr, where reblog culture rewarded reaction images that could sit at the bottom of an emotionally loaded post[6]. Memecenter counted more than 9,400 uploads under the 'Lie Down Try Not To Cry Cry A Lot' tag by August 2017, though not every entry uses the original comic[5]. Even years after Tanner's drawing first appeared, the phrase kept surfacing in fandom threads whenever a beloved character died or a show wrapped[4]. ## How to Use Typical edits keep the three-line 'Lie Down. Try Not to Cry. Cry a Lot.' caption above Tanner's fetal-position figure and replace the crying character with whoever is meant to be devastated, often a fandom stand-in for the poster[2]. A common convention is to use the unedited comic as a bottom-panel reaction to a sad or heartwarming image, letting the drawing do the emoting[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Lie Down? Lie Down / Try Not to Cry / Cry a Lot is an exploitable comic showing a man curled in the fetal position under the phrase 'Lie Down. Try Not to Cry. Cry a Lot.,' used to signal exaggerated sadness[1]. ### Where did Lie Down come from? It first appeared as one panel in the CollegeHumor article 'Realistic Gym Workout Diagrams,' published on September 10, 2010[1], drawn by CollegeHumor artist Caldwell Tanner[3]. ### What does Lie Down mean? It expresses over-the-top grief at a fictional event or emotional post, treating crying as a three-step workout routine to be followed[2]. ### How do you use Lie Down? People either edit the fetal-position figure into a character from a fandom mourning a scene or death[2], or drop the unedited comic under a sad or heartwarming image as a reaction[4]. ### Is Lie Down still popular? The format saw its heaviest use between 2012 and 2017, with Memecenter listing over 9,400 tagged uploads by August 2017 and heavy reblog activity on Tumblr[5][6]. ## References 1. [http://www.collegehumor.com/post/6297643/realistic-gym-workout-diagrams]() 2. [http://www.mandatory.com/2013/03/05/lie-down-try-not-to-cry-cry-a-lot-an-emotional-meme-collection/]() 3. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GPHGSNYFPc]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lie-down-try-not-to-cry-cry-a-lot]() 5. [https://www.memecenter.com/search/lie%20down%20try%20not%20to%20cry%20cry%20a%20lot]() 6. [https://www.tumblr.com/search/lie%20down%20try%20not%20to%20cry%20cry%20a%20lot]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/lie-down-try-not-to-cry-cry-a-lot Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library