What is Things To Say?

A TikTok and Instagram Reels format that lists intentionally bad things to say in a specific social situation, presented as sincere advice.

Where did Things To Say come from?

TikTok user @cawkringinvestor posted the earliest widely shared version on August 17, 2026, titled 'Things to say after cracking'.

What does Things To Say mean?

The name refers to the template itself, a list of lines you're supposedly meant to deliver to a specific person like a boss, an in-law or a doctor, where every line would blow up the encounter.

How do you use Things To Say?

Pick a target audience, attach a headshot or character image, and post a list of deadpan lines that would obviously sabotage the interaction.

Is Things To Say still popular?

As of September 2026, the format is trending on TikTok and Instagram Reels, with new versions reaching hundreds of thousands to millions of views.

Things To Say

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Published September 10, 2026

Things To Say is a series of ironic hustle culture image macros that list intentionally bad advice for what to say to specific people, from a partner's father to a job interviewer. The format launched on TikTok in mid-August 2026 and became one of the platform's dominant joke templates of late summer.

internet memes

Overview

The Things To Say format pairs a headshot or reference image, often a celebrity or a movie character, with a bulleted list of increasingly absurd one-liners the viewer is supposedly meant to deliver in that situation3. The humor lands because the suggestions are the opposite of good advice, delivered with the straight-faced cadence of a self-help TikTok.

Variations lean on universally awkward encounters: meeting a partner's parents, sitting for a job interview, seeing a doctor, closing a sales call2. The list format keeps posts skimmable while the mismatch between the confident presentation and the obviously ruinous suggestions carries the punchline.

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Origin & Background

Platform

TikTok (Instagram Reels for later spread)

Creator

@cawkringinvestor

Date

2026

On August 17, 2026, TikTok user @cawkringinvestor1 posted the earliest widely shared entry in the format, titled 'Things to say after cracking' and framed as post-sex banter suggestions. According to Know Your Meme, the video collected over 1.7 million views in the following month, establishing both the layout and the ironic-advice tone that later posts copied3.

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TikTok

How It Spread

The template took off in the last week of August. On August 30, @therealuncle12 paired a Matthew McConaughey still with a list of lines to use when meeting your partner's dad, reportedly drawing over 1.1 million views within a week. A day later, @richhomiethugger28674 flipped the format to job interviews and pulled a reported 2.2 million views.

The trend jumped to Instagram Reels in early September. User jack_sonsm485 posted a version on September 2 that reached tens of thousands of likes, and on September 5, _thebayharborbutcher6 paired Hugh Laurie as House M.D. with a list of things to say to a doctor. Older Urban Dictionary entries under the same phrase predate but are unrelated to this template7.

Timeline

2026-08-17

TikTok user @cawkringinvestor posts 'Things to say after cracking,' the earliest widely shared entry in the format.

2026-08-30

@therealuncle1 posts a Matthew McConaughey version about meeting a partner's dad, reportedly reaching over 1.1 million views.

2026-08-31

@richhomiethugger2867 adapts the format to job interviews, reportedly pulling over 2.2 million views.

2026-09-02

Instagram user jack_sonsm48 brings the format to Reels, picking up tens of thousands of likes.

2026-09-05

Instagram user _thebayharborbutcher posts a Hugh Laurie / House M.D. version aimed at doctor visits.

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TikTok

How to Use This Meme

Creators typically pick a target situation, a job interview, a first date, dinner with in-laws, attach a matching headshot or archetype image, and post a list of deadpan lines that would obviously sabotage the interaction2.