What is Lynndie England Pose?

It's a mid-2000s photo fad in which the subject stands with a cigarette or pen dangling from the mouth, thumb up, and one hand pointing at a target, recreating the 2004 Abu Ghraib picture of Private Lynndie England[1].

Where did Lynndie England Pose come from?

It came out of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photos that hit mainstream US media in spring 2004[2], turned into a copycat challenge that August by British blog Bad Gas[1].

What does Lynndie England Pose mean?

The joke recasts an unwitting target as the naked prisoner England pointed at in the original photograph, making the pose a dark parody of the Abu Ghraib image[2].

How do you use Lynndie England Pose?

Follow Bad Gas's original steps: cigarette or pen in the mouth, weight leaned back on the right leg, right arm thumbs-up like a rifle, left arm pointed at the target while a friend snaps the shot[1].

Is Lynndie England Pose still popular?

No. Activity clustered in late 2004 through 2006 on BoingBoing[2] and Bad Gas[1], and the fad tapered off after that.

Lynndie England Pose

2004photo faddead

Published September 5, 2026

Lynndie England Pose, better known as 'doing a Lynndie,' is a photo fad based on the infamous 2004 Abu Ghraib picture of US Army Private Lynndie England pointing at a naked detainee2. In August 2004, British site Bad Gas published a step-by-step page for recreating the pose against unsuspecting 'victims'1, kicking off a wave of stealth photo pranks that spread across the early blogosphere3.

photo fad memes body pose memes prank memes early internet memes british memes

Overview

The pose follows a strict recipe. Bad Gas's original instructions called for a cigarette or pen dangling below horizontal from the mouth, the upper body tilted forward with weight leaned back on the right leg, and the right arm extended in a thumbs-up hitchhiker gesture positioned as if holding a rifle1. The left arm points at the target, usually someone with no idea they were being framed as the naked detainee in the shot2. Practitioners called the sneakier version 'stealth Lynndie-ing,' and the humor rested entirely on the target's ignorance of what pose was being pulled behind them2.

Origin & Background

Platform

Bad Gas blog / BoingBoing (viral spread)

Creator

Bad Gas

Date

2004

The catalyst was April 28, 2004, when CBS's 60 Minutes broadcast the Abu Ghraib abuse photographs, including the picture of Private Lynndie Rana England of the 372nd Military Police Company pointing at a hooded, naked detainee3. The meme itself surfaced that August, when British blog Bad Gas put up a page titled 'Doing a Lynndie' with numbered instructions and invited readers to submit their own photos striking the pose against unsuspecting 'victims'1.

How It Spread

BoingBoing amplified Bad Gas on August 18, 2004, with a post titled 'Stealth Lynndie-ing' that framed the pose as a 'warped variant of stealth disco'2. From there the fad hopped through the era's community sites: a Democratic Underground photo competition thread went up on August 30, a Flickr group called 'Doing the Lynndie' opened on September 4, Urban Dictionary picked up the term on September 28, and a Facebook group followed on November 10, 20063.

How to Use This Meme

Recreating the pose typically calls for a cigarette or pen dangling from the mouth, the right arm extended in a thumbs-up like it's holding an invisible rifle, and the left arm pointed at an unsuspecting target while a friend takes the photo1.

Frequently Asked Questions

References (3)