Three panel meme comparing No ice sign at soda fountain with Woman Yelling at a Cat format showing Jake Peralta saying Noice

Noice

2001catchphraseclassic

Published September 10, 2026

Noice, also spelled Nooice, is an accented spelling of the word "nice" used online as enthusiastic (or sarcastic) shorthand for approval. Traced back to a 2001 Wiktionary entry and a 2003 Urban Dictionary post crediting the Beastie Boys, the word broke out through 4chan threads and a viral Michael Rosen YouTube Poop before mainstream audiences caught on via a 2013 Key & Peele skit.

internet memes

Overview

Noice is deployed as a one-word exclamation of approval, usually shouted with an exaggerated Australian, English, or generic "bro" accent1. Writers stretch the spelling to signal intensity, with "nooice," "noiice," and longer variants doing extra hype work compared to a plain "nice"2. The tone flips easily between genuine praise and deadpan sarcasm, which is a big part of why the word travels so well.

Online, the word tends to arrive as a reaction: pasted under a clever post, dubbed over a video clip, or clipped from Michael Rosen or Key & Peele as a standalone response3. A hand-signal mouth-click version, popularized by the Key & Peele hype-man sketch, is often paired with the text in captions and comments4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Wiktionary / Urban Dictionary (early definitions), 4chan and YouTube (viral spread)
Date
2001

The accented pronunciation "noice" was first cataloged online on February 1, 2001, when Wiktionary logged it as an English dialectical version of "nice"3. Two years later, on March 16, 2003, Urban Dictionary user "Cracka-B A.K.A Billy Blam" submitted the earliest widely cited definition, describing noice as being "beyond the regular limits of nice" and crediting the Beastie Boys track "Three MCs & One DJ" as a possible first recorded usage2.

That Beastie Boys attribution is unverified, and the true originator is unknown, but the accented pronunciation was already floating around English regional slang before the internet catalogued it2.

How It Spread

Noice picked up steam on imageboards first. By May 2015, the 4chan archive Archived.moe recorded more than 86,000 threads and posts containing the term, making it a fixture of reaction-post culture on /b/ and adjacent boards3. One of the earliest online short films titled "Noice" was indexed on Albino Black Sheep on May 24, 20063.

The YouTube era is what pushed it mainstream. On November 1, 2013, user DylanCliff111 uploaded a content-aware-scaled clip of children's TV personality and YouTube Poop staple Michael Rosen saying the word, which passed 2.8 million views and became a stock reaction video1. Nineteen days later, on November 20, 2013, Key & Peele uploaded a sketch in which a breakdance-circle hype-man loses it when a rival steals his catchphrase, "Nooice," spelled with two Os4. The skit has racked up well over six million views and locked the mouth-click delivery into pop culture.

Brand and product tie-ins followed. On October 20, 2014, Studio Tentpole, LLC released Noice, an iOS app pairing emoji with sound effects and featuring the voice of Emmy winner Rob Schrab5. The app itself stayed niche, but its existence shows how far the word had drifted from a dialect note into a marketable identity5.

Timeline

2001-02-01

Wiktionary adds "noice" as an English dialectical form of nice, the earliest known online catalog entry.

2003-03-16

Urban Dictionary user "Cracka-B A.K.A Billy Blam" submits an early definition and credits the Beastie Boys' "Three MCs & One DJ".

2006-05-24

An early online short film titled "Noice" is indexed on Albino Black Sheep.

2013-11-01

DylanCliff111 uploads a content-aware-scaled Michael Rosen "Noice" YouTube Poop, later passing 2.8 million views.

2013-11-20

Key & Peele upload a breakdance-circle sketch built around the catchphrase "Nooice," which passes six million views.

2014-10-20

Studio Tentpole, LLC releases the Noice emoji + sound app for iOS, featuring Rob Schrab's voice.

Frequently Asked Questions