# Potential to Do the Funniest Thing of All Time A catchphrase born on Twitter in August 2021 when a user joked that the Ever Given's captain had a chance to block the Suez Canal a second time on purpose. By April 2023, the format mutated into deliberately vague engagement bait that left followers guessing what the funniest hypothetical actually was. ## Origin On August 19th, 2021, Twitter user @nameshiv posted a news snippet about the Ever Given, the container ship behind the March 2021 Suez Canal blockage, passing through the canal for the first time since the incident[1]. Hours later, @IronsparkSyris quote tweeted it with the line that the captain was staring out the window thinking about his opportunity to do the single funniest thing anyone has ever done, implying a second deliberate blockage[2]. That quote tweet pulled around 150 retweets and 520 likes over two years, modest by viral standards[2]. The joke structure caught on later that year when @KT_So_It_Goes posted a December 9th, 2021 variant that reached roughly 7,400 retweets and 46,900 likes[3]. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** @IronsparkSyris - **Date:** 2021 ## Overview Posts in this format name a real person, character or situation and claim that person has a chance to pull off the single funniest act in human history, usually by repeating some infamous past event[1]. The straightforward version works like dark absurdist wishcasting: the Ever Given captain re-blocking the Suez Canal, Queen Elizabeth II dying again, Pixar's Carl losing his wife a second time in the short film Carl's Date[2][3]. After March 2023, the catchphrase mutated into a vague setup where the writer never says what the funniest thing would be, forcing readers to guess in the replies[4]. That ambiguity is the joke, and it works as engagement bait because the quote tweet and reply counts balloon with people pitching what they think the punchline is. Typical posts pair a photo of a celebrity, animal or scene with a single sentence noting the subject has an opportunity to do the funniest thing of all time right now[5]. ## How to Use The common convention is to point at a specific person, character or situation and claim they currently have a chance to do the funniest thing of all time, without spelling out what that funniest thing actually is. Posts often include a photo and a single declarative sentence. The ambiguous version typically works best as a quote tweet or reply to a news item where readers can project their own guess onto the setup. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Potential to Do the Funniest Thing of All Time? A Twitter catchphrase, also written as Chance to Do the Funniest Thing or Opportunity to Do the Funniest Thing, used in posts suggesting someone could pull off the funniest hypothetical act in history[1]. ### Where did Potential to Do the Funniest Thing of All Time come from? It started on August 19th, 2021, when Twitter user @IronsparkSyris quote tweeted a news item about the Ever Given re-entering the Suez Canal and joked the captain could block it again[2]. ### What does Potential to Do the Funniest Thing of All Time mean? In its original form it implies a specific absurd repeat of a past event; after March 2023 it was used ambiguously so readers invent their own punchline[5]. ### How do you use Potential to Do the Funniest Thing of All Time? Name a person or character, pair them with a photo or news item and claim they currently have an opportunity to do the funniest thing of all time, often leaving the specific act unstated[6]. ### Is Potential to Do the Funniest Thing of All Time still popular? The format broke out across Twitter in April 2023 with posts reaching hundreds of thousands of likes, and it is documented on Know Your Meme as a recurring engagement-bait structure[7][1]. ## References 1. [https://twitter.com/IronsparkSyris/status/1428481574819958788]() 2. [https://twitter.com/nameshiv/status/1428480643797721093]() 3. [https://twitter.com/KT_So_It_Goes/status/1469005438603739141]() 4. [https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1572729317750349824]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/potential-to-do-the-funniest-thing-of-all-time]() 6. [https://twitter.com/MNateShyamalan/status/1641227725988851713]() 7. [https://twitter.com/JUNlPER/status/1643833009219461125]() 8. [https://twitter.com/upblissed/status/1644382081378549760]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/potential-to-do-the-funniest-thing-of-all-time Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library