# Pet the X Pet the X / PETTHE Emotes is an exploitable built from DitzyFlama's sped-up GIF of a hand petting a frog, first tweeted on February 18, 2020[1]. Twitch users turned the floating hand into hundreds of BetterTTV emotes through mid-2020[2], and YouTube and Instagram creators soon stuck the same hand onto sad cartoon characters for a wholesome petting format set to Super Mario World's ending theme[3]. ## Origin On February 18, 2020, Twitter user DitzyFlama tweeted a sped-up clip of a person petting a frog with the caption 'rt to pet frog,' pulling more than 14,600 likes and retweets through mid-2020[1]. The clip rode on a frogposting trend running across Instagram and Twitter at the time, which spread it to Twitch chats and sparked the Mmmm Myes Pet Froge reaction before the PETTHE emote series took shape[4]. On May 16, 2020, BetterTTV user flammel_xd cut the hand out of the frog clip and placed it over the peepoHappy avatar, creating PETTHEPEEPO alongside a second variant called PETTHECUTIE that used the AYAYA emote[2]. - **Platform:** Twitter (source GIF) / Twitch BetterTTV (viral spread) - **Creator:** DitzyFlama - **Date:** 2020 ## Overview The format sits on one visual trick: a disembodied hand drops into frame and strokes whatever character sits beneath it. On Twitch, it works as an animated BetterTTV emote so chat can spam a comfort reaction, often with the peepoHappy face or a streamer's cartoon avatar underneath[2]. In the longer video version, a sad subject sits still until the hand swoops in; the character then glows, smiles, or starts crying happy tears. The ending theme from Super Mario World became the standard soundtrack across those clips[3]. Bait-and-switch cuts flipped the setup on its head. The hand sets up a wholesome pet, then slaps, crushes, or beheads the subject instead. These edits run on characters from Team Fortress 2, Among Us, and other games, keeping the Pet the X name while cutting against the Twitch originals' comfort-reaction tone. ## How to Use The typical build is a still image or looping avatar of a sad character, with the floating hand animated in from off-screen to stroke the top of their head. Twitch creators drop the hand over a streamer's face or a Pepe variant for a comfort reaction emote on BetterTTV[2]. Video creators often add a smile, glow, or happy tears to the subject after the pet lands and set the clip to Super Mario World's ending theme, which became the default audio pairing after nitro.if's July 2020 Peepo video[3]. Bait-and-switch versions keep the same setup but swap the pet for a crushing, slicing, or shooting beat drop. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Pet the X? Pet the X / PETTHE Emotes is an exploitable video and emote format built around a disembodied hand that pets whatever character is placed beneath it, lifted from DitzyFlama's February 2020 frog-petting GIF[1]. ### Where did Pet the X come from? The source clip is a sped-up GIF posted by Twitter user DitzyFlama on February 18, 2020[1]. The PETTHE emote series started on May 16, 2020, when BetterTTV user flammel_xd made PETTHEPEEPO using the peepoHappy avatar[2]. ### What does Pet the X mean? In Twitch chat the emotes read as a comfort reaction, with the hand petting a streamer or Pepe variant to show support[2]. In the longer video versions the pet makes a sad character cheer up, though bait-and-switch cuts flip the setup and have the hand harm the subject instead[4]. ### How do you use Pet the X? Creators typically drop the floating hand onto a still image or looping avatar of a sad character and set the clip to Super Mario World's ending theme, which became the standard soundtrack after nitro.if's July 2020 Peepo video[3]. ### Is Pet the X still popular? The main run was May through September 2020. By late June 2020, more than 400 PETTHE emotes were live on BetterTTV, and the video format kept producing both wholesome and bait-and-switch variants through that year[9]. ## References 1. [https://x.com/i/status/1229852204082679809]() 2. [https://betterttv.com/emotes/5ec059009af1ea16863b2dec]() 3. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waKumDkYrDY]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pet-the-x-petthe-emotes]() 5. [https://betterttv.com/emotes/5ec9717810aaa55e29468c7b]() 6. [https://betterttv.com/emotes/5ed07f90924aa35e32a638d3]() 7. [https://www.reddit.com/r/xqcow/comments/gsb0c6/pettheschnozer/]() 8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs3wUmGAMgo]() 9. [https://betterttv.com/emotes/shared/search?query=petthe]() 10. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6PunD-odDY]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/pet-the-x-petthe-emotes Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library