They Know What Is What But They Don't Know What Is What They Just Strut — Graffiti-style white text on black background displaying the meme catchphrase

They Know What Is What But They Don't Know What Is What They Just Strut

2000catchphrase / audio memeclassic

Published November 9, 2026

Roland Clark's 2000 house track 'I Get Deep' delivered a strangely cadenced lyric, 'They know what is what but they don't know what is what they just strut, what the fuck,' that Fatboy Slim sampled in 2001 and Katy Perry pitched down for 'Swish Swish' in 2017. By October 2021, that Katy Perry sample was powering a TikTok Original Sound with over 13,000 uses in lip-dub skits within weeks.

tiktok sound trends lip sync memes audio memes delayed virality memes misheard lyrics memes

Overview

The audio clip lifts a single line from Katy Perry's 'Swish Swish,' which slows and lowers Roland Clark's original vocal into a near-monotone chant: 'They know what is what but they don't know what is what they just strut, what the fuck'2. The deadpan delivery and the tongue-twister logic of the phrase sell the joke, since the lyric unravels any attempt to parse it as a sentence5.

On TikTok, creators lip-sync the clip while strutting toward unsuspecting bystanders, or hold up strange objects in front of relatives so the 'they don't know what is' line lands as an insult8. The payoff typically arrives when the target reacts with visible confusion, letting the closing 'what the fuck' double as the viewer's reaction7.

Origin & Background

Platform
House music records (origin) / TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
Roland Clark; TikTok audio format popularized by @lacrioxlover6969
Date
2000

Roland Clark released the deep-house single 'I Get Deep' in 2000, and the chorus contained the line that would later anchor the meme3. On April 23rd, 2001, Fatboy Slim released 'Star 69,' which looped a reworked version of Clark's vocal over a club beat1. Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj then revived the sample on May 19th, 2017 for 'Swish Swish,' slowing it down and lowering its pitch so the words came out in the hypnotic cadence that TikTok editors later seized on2.

How It Spread

Meme uses of the lyric began appearing on Instagram. On February 19th, 2019, the house-music account 6amgroup posted a pie chart riffing on the line, which drew over 2,300 likes in the following two years4. The account returned to the same quote on December 11th, 2020 with a 'They Don't Know' image macro that passed 1,100 likes within ten months9.

The format exploded on TikTok in October 2021. On October 3rd, @lacrioxlover6969 uploaded the 'Swish Swish' snippet as an audio clip captioned 'IM LAUGHING SO HARD AT THIS,' and the post reached over 1.3 million views in two weeks6. Three days later, @j0mgl0m paired the Original Sound with a sleep-talking skit that hit 2.6 million views within a week7.

On October 12th, TikToker @derkslurp stood in front of his parents holding a turkey baster and a douche, letting the lyric imply that neither of them could identify the objects. His father's on-camera question about what he was holding carried the clip to 6.5 million views in a week8. TikToker @aprilf00lsday then approached two strangers on October 18th while delivering the phrase, prompting them to walk away. By October 19th, 2021, the Original Sound had been used over 13,000 times across TikTok5.

Timeline

2000

Roland Clark releases the house single 'I Get Deep,' which contains the original lyric.

2001-04-23

Fatboy Slim releases 'Star 69,' built around a reworked loop of Clark's vocal.

2017-05-19

Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj release 'Swish Swish,' which samples the line from 'Star 69' pitched down.

2019-02-19

Instagram account 6amgroup posts a pie chart riffing on the lyric.

2020-12-11

6amgroup posts a 'They Don't Know' image macro using the same quote.

How to Use This Meme

The audio format typically pairs the pitched-down Katy Perry clip with either a strut toward an unsuspecting target or a cutaway to someone being handed an object they can't identify. Creators often sync the moment of confusion to the closing 'what the fuck' line for the punchline8.

Frequently Asked Questions