What is That's a Penis?

It's a reaction GIF pulled from How I Met Your Mother in which a client blankly tells Ted Mosby's firm that their building design looks like a penis.

Where did That's a Penis come from?

The scene is from Season 2 Episode 6 of How I Met Your Mother, and Tumblr user brokentripod turned it into a GIF on January 30th, 2011.

What does That's a Penis mean?

Online it's used as a flat, deadpan reaction to anything that unintentionally looks phallic, and Urban Dictionary also lists it as a catchall response to awkward silences.

How do you use That's a Penis?

People typically drop the GIF or the phrase in reply to a photo, chart, or building that resembles a penis, and a reversed version of the GIF is common when the joke is being set up visually.

Is That's a Penis still popular?

It became a classic reaction GIF after early Reddit and Tumblr spread in 2011 and 2012, with the original Tumblr post pulling more than 154,000 notes over its first decade.

That's a Penis

2011reaction gifclassic

Published September 30, 2026

"That's a Penis" is a line from a Season 2 episode of How I Met Your Mother where a client bluntly rejects Ted Mosby's architectural design. Tumblr user brokentripod turned the scene into a GIF in early 2011, and the clip became one of the most-shared reaction GIFs on Reddit and Tumblr for stunned, awkward silences.

reaction memes gif memes tv show memes double entendre memes tumblr memes

Overview

"That's a Penis" is a three-word reaction GIF pulled from Season 2, Episode 6 of How I Met Your Mother, in which a client stares at a building rendering by Ted Mosby's firm and delivers the flat verdict that the design looks phallic3. The GIF loops the client's deadpan delivery, which is what made it stick as a go-to reply for anything unintentionally suggestive.

The format is almost always used at face value, dropped into a thread where someone has posted a photo, a chart, a Snapchat, or a building that accidentally resembles a penis1. A reversed edit of the GIF also circulated widely, letting posters set up the joke visually before the punchline lands4. Urban Dictionary entries from that era listed the line as a general-purpose response for awkward silences, which matches how Redditors used it2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

How I Met Your Mother (source) / Tumblr (GIF creation) / Reddit (viral spread)

Creator

brokentripod

Date

2011

The source clip comes from the How I Met Your Mother episode "Aldrin Justice," which aired in 2006 and features the client rejecting Ted's design with the titular line8. On January 30th, 2011, Tumblr user brokentripod cut the moment into a looping GIF and reposted it a few days later on February 3rd, where it eventually pulled in more than 154,000 notes3.

Brokentripod later confirmed authorship of the GIF in a follow-up Tumblr post about a reversed version fans made using ReverseGIF, noting they had remade the reversed edit themselves so it would play properly on Tumblr4.

How It Spread

The clip jumped platforms fast in mid-2011. On June 8th, 2011, Soup.io user Sticky reposted the animated GIF with the caption "that's a penis," one of the earliest cross-platform reuploads outside Tumblr3. Two weeks later, on June 22nd, a Facebook page named for the line was launched, an early sign that the quote was becoming a standalone catchphrase rather than just a scene reference3.

Reddit is where the GIF really cemented itself. On July 16th, 2011, Redditor Mexican_Beluga posted it to r/funny to tease a friend's wedding night, and the post cleared 6,000 upvotes before archival3. On August 28th, Redditor monochrome_sketch used the GIF to react to browsing r/gonewild for the first time, and in the comments Redditor Tyba11s dropped a reversed version of the clip that same day3. Brokentripod reposted that reversed edit to Tumblr the same day it appeared4.

The GIF kept getting reused in new contexts through the following year. On August 9th, 2012, Redditor Khromasoul posted it to r/reactiongifs as a joke about watching his wife's ultrasound3. On October 21st, 2012, IGN Forums user sumidiotdude shared the reversed version in the site's Vestibule community, extending the joke's life on gaming boards3.

Timeline

2006-10-23

How I Met Your Mother Season 2 Episode 6 airs, containing the original "that's a penis" scene[3].

2011-01-30

Tumblr user brokentripod creates the GIF from the HIMYM scene[3].

2011-02-03

Brokentripod posts the earliest available Tumblr upload of the GIF, which later racked up 154,000+ notes[3].

2011-06-08

Soup.io user Sticky reposts the GIF with the "that's a penis" caption[3].

2011-06-22

A Facebook page named "That's a penis" is launched[3].

2011-07-16

Redditor Mexican_Beluga posts the GIF to r/funny, clearing 6,000 upvotes[3].

2011-08-28

A reversed edit of the GIF appears in an r/funny thread, and brokentripod reposts it to Tumblr the same day[4].

2012-08-09

Redditor Khromasoul posts the GIF to r/reactiongifs as a wife-ultrasound reaction[3].

That's a Penis

Overview

Gallery

Origin & Background

How It Spread

Frequently Asked Questions

References (5)