Those Bastards Lied To Me

2018Reaction imagesemi-active

Also known as: Esos Bastardos Me Mintieron

Those Bastards Lied to Me" is a 2018 reaction image meme featuring *Pawn Stars*' Richard "Old Man" Harrison, expressing exasperation at being deceived or misled.

"Those Bastards Lied to Me" is a reaction image meme featuring Richard "Old Man" Harrison from the reality TV show *Pawn Stars*, used to express feelings of betrayal after discovering false or misleading information1. The meme originated in October 2018 among Spanish-speaking Facebook communities before spreading to English-speaking platforms like Reddit by late December 20181. It functions similarly to the "So That Was a Fucking Lie" format, pairing a caption describing a deceptive claim with Harrison's exasperated reaction.

pawn stars memesreaction memesimage macro memesreality tv origin memeslatin american memes

Overview

The meme uses a screenshot of Richard Harrison from *Pawn Stars* delivering the line "Those bastards lied to me" during an interview segment. The format places a caption above the image describing a statement or promise that turned out to be false, with Harrison's reaction serving as the punchline3. The image works as a universal expression of feeling deceived, whether the "lie" is something trivial like a misleading product description or a humorous exaggeration like expecting jokes in Dante's *Divine Comedy*.

The source material comes from *Pawn Stars* Season 1, Episode 17, titled "Old Man's Booty," which aired on December 7, 200931. In the episode, Rick and Corey Harrison secretly take the Old Man's 1966 Chrysler Imperial for restoration as a gift for his 50th wedding anniversary, telling him it was sold to a customer. When they reveal the surprise, Richard reacts in an interview segment by saying "That little bastard lied to me"3.

The line took on new life through the Latin American Spanish dub of the show, where Richard's quote was translated as "Esos bastardos me mintieron," meaning "Those bastards lied to me"3. This slightly altered, more dramatic phrasing became the basis for the meme template.

The clip saw renewed attention after being featured at the end of the episode "A Treasure Remembered," which aired on June 27, 2018, as a tribute to Richard Harrison following his death3.

On October 29, 2018, the Facebook page Momeros Del Genero:v posted the template with Richard's quote and shared a link to a blank template3. Two days later, on October 31, the page Memerología UNAM shared what is considered the first captioned example of the meme, with the text "When you read the entirety of the Divine Comedy but no fucking joke appears" (translated from Spanish), complete with an SDLG watermark3.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook (Spanish-speaking meme pages), Reddit (English-speaking spread)
Key People
Momeros Del Genero:v, Memerología UNAM
Date
2018

The source material comes from *Pawn Stars* Season 1, Episode 17, titled "Old Man's Booty," which aired on December 7, 2009. In the episode, Rick and Corey Harrison secretly take the Old Man's 1966 Chrysler Imperial for restoration as a gift for his 50th wedding anniversary, telling him it was sold to a customer. When they reveal the surprise, Richard reacts in an interview segment by saying "That little bastard lied to me".

The line took on new life through the Latin American Spanish dub of the show, where Richard's quote was translated as "Esos bastardos me mintieron," meaning "Those bastards lied to me". This slightly altered, more dramatic phrasing became the basis for the meme template.

The clip saw renewed attention after being featured at the end of the episode "A Treasure Remembered," which aired on June 27, 2018, as a tribute to Richard Harrison following his death.

On October 29, 2018, the Facebook page Momeros Del Genero:v posted the template with Richard's quote and shared a link to a blank template. Two days later, on October 31, the page Memerología UNAM shared what is considered the first captioned example of the meme, with the text "When you read the entirety of the Divine Comedy but no fucking joke appears" (translated from Spanish), complete with an SDLG watermark.

How It Spread

The meme initially spread through Spanish-speaking Facebook communities during late October and early November 2018. On November 14, 2018, the Facebook page Indie 1975 posted a version with the caption "When you got to The Neighbourhood's concert and they aren't in black-and-white," which picked up over 2,700 reactions and 1,700 shares.

On November 20, Memedroid user Choppercrack posted a Photoshopped version mocking image file formats, earning over 1,000 points on the platform.

The jump to English-speaking internet happened on December 29, 2018, when Redditor Hancho_Nick posted a version to r/memes that earned over 16,000 upvotes with a 95% upvote ratio. From there, the format spread rapidly across meme subreddits. It hit r/MemeEconomy where it scored over 20,000 points, and r/me_irl where it pulled in over 9,500 points.

The format saw creative variations on r/dankmemes. User reece8316 posted a version gaining 3,600 points, while pibuster's take earned over 43,000 points. Some users went beyond the standard template entirely. Redditor Harry34186 Photoshopped the image into a joke that earned 5,800 points, and MrFreedomMcBaguette brought it to r/historymemes with a history-themed variation.

Google Trends data shows searches for "Estos bastardos me mintieron" spiked in late October 2018 and peaked in early December before declining. English searches for "Those bastards lied to me" began appearing in the final days of 2018.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically follows a simple structure. The top text presents a claim, expectation, or commonly accepted "fact" that turns out to be untrue or misleading. Richard Harrison's reaction image sits below, expressing the user's feeling of betrayal. Common setups include:

- Promises that turned out to be lies ("When the teacher said the test would be easy") - Misleading expectations vs. reality ("When you finish college and don't immediately get a job") - Pop culture disappointments or ironic letdowns

The humor often comes from the gap between the stated promise and the actual outcome, with Harrison's deadpan frustration adding comedic weight to even minor grievances.

Cultural Impact

The meme's spread pattern is notable for its bilingual trajectory. Starting in Latin American Spanish-speaking communities before crossing into English-speaking platforms, it represents a clear case of meme migration across language barriers. The Latin American dub's slightly more dramatic phrasing ("Those bastards" plural, rather than the original "That little bastard" singular) gave the template broader applicability, since the plural form works better for situations involving systemic deception or general life disappointments.

The meme also gained emotional weight due to its connection to Richard Harrison's passing. His death on June 25, 2018 led to the memorial episode that brought the clip back into public consciousness just months before the meme format took off.

Fun Facts

The original English line is "That little bastard lied to me" (singular), but the Latin American dub changed it to the plural "Those bastards lied to me," which became the meme's actual catchphrase.

The meme format is closely related to the "So That Was a Fucking Lie" meme, which uses a different reaction image for the same basic joke structure.

The first known meme example referenced Dante's *Divine Comedy*, joking about reading the entire work and finding no actual jokes in it.

*Pawn Stars* has aired over 20 seasons since its 2009 premiere, making it one of the longest-running reality shows on the History channel.

Derivatives & Variations

Photoshopped variations:

Users edited the Harrison image into new contexts beyond the standard caption format, including file format jokes and history-themed mashups[3].

r/historymemes crossovers:

The template was adapted with historical scenarios on Reddit's history meme community[3].

Frequently Asked Questions

Those Bastards Lied To Me

2018Reaction imagesemi-active

Also known as: Esos Bastardos Me Mintieron

Those Bastards Lied to Me" is a 2018 reaction image meme featuring *Pawn Stars*' Richard "Old Man" Harrison, expressing exasperation at being deceived or misled.

"Those Bastards Lied to Me" is a reaction image meme featuring Richard "Old Man" Harrison from the reality TV show *Pawn Stars*, used to express feelings of betrayal after discovering false or misleading information. The meme originated in October 2018 among Spanish-speaking Facebook communities before spreading to English-speaking platforms like Reddit by late December 2018. It functions similarly to the "So That Was a Fucking Lie" format, pairing a caption describing a deceptive claim with Harrison's exasperated reaction.

pawn stars memes reaction memes image macro memes reality tv origin memes latin american memes

Overview

The meme uses a screenshot of Richard Harrison from *Pawn Stars* delivering the line "Those bastards lied to me" during an interview segment. The format places a caption above the image describing a statement or promise that turned out to be false, with Harrison's reaction serving as the punchline. The image works as a universal expression of feeling deceived, whether the "lie" is something trivial like a misleading product description or a humorous exaggeration like expecting jokes in Dante's *Divine Comedy*.

The source material comes from *Pawn Stars* Season 1, Episode 17, titled "Old Man's Booty," which aired on December 7, 2009. In the episode, Rick and Corey Harrison secretly take the Old Man's 1966 Chrysler Imperial for restoration as a gift for his 50th wedding anniversary, telling him it was sold to a customer. When they reveal the surprise, Richard reacts in an interview segment by saying "That little bastard lied to me".

The line took on new life through the Latin American Spanish dub of the show, where Richard's quote was translated as "Esos bastardos me mintieron," meaning "Those bastards lied to me". This slightly altered, more dramatic phrasing became the basis for the meme template.

The clip saw renewed attention after being featured at the end of the episode "A Treasure Remembered," which aired on June 27, 2018, as a tribute to Richard Harrison following his death.

On October 29, 2018, the Facebook page Momeros Del Genero:v posted the template with Richard's quote and shared a link to a blank template. Two days later, on October 31, the page Memerología UNAM shared what is considered the first captioned example of the meme, with the text "When you read the entirety of the Divine Comedy but no fucking joke appears" (translated from Spanish), complete with an SDLG watermark.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook (Spanish-speaking meme pages), Reddit (English-speaking spread)
Key People
Momeros Del Genero:v, Memerología UNAM
Date
2018

The source material comes from *Pawn Stars* Season 1, Episode 17, titled "Old Man's Booty," which aired on December 7, 2009. In the episode, Rick and Corey Harrison secretly take the Old Man's 1966 Chrysler Imperial for restoration as a gift for his 50th wedding anniversary, telling him it was sold to a customer. When they reveal the surprise, Richard reacts in an interview segment by saying "That little bastard lied to me".

The line took on new life through the Latin American Spanish dub of the show, where Richard's quote was translated as "Esos bastardos me mintieron," meaning "Those bastards lied to me". This slightly altered, more dramatic phrasing became the basis for the meme template.

The clip saw renewed attention after being featured at the end of the episode "A Treasure Remembered," which aired on June 27, 2018, as a tribute to Richard Harrison following his death.

On October 29, 2018, the Facebook page Momeros Del Genero:v posted the template with Richard's quote and shared a link to a blank template. Two days later, on October 31, the page Memerología UNAM shared what is considered the first captioned example of the meme, with the text "When you read the entirety of the Divine Comedy but no fucking joke appears" (translated from Spanish), complete with an SDLG watermark.

How It Spread

The meme initially spread through Spanish-speaking Facebook communities during late October and early November 2018. On November 14, 2018, the Facebook page Indie 1975 posted a version with the caption "When you got to The Neighbourhood's concert and they aren't in black-and-white," which picked up over 2,700 reactions and 1,700 shares.

On November 20, Memedroid user Choppercrack posted a Photoshopped version mocking image file formats, earning over 1,000 points on the platform.

The jump to English-speaking internet happened on December 29, 2018, when Redditor Hancho_Nick posted a version to r/memes that earned over 16,000 upvotes with a 95% upvote ratio. From there, the format spread rapidly across meme subreddits. It hit r/MemeEconomy where it scored over 20,000 points, and r/me_irl where it pulled in over 9,500 points.

The format saw creative variations on r/dankmemes. User reece8316 posted a version gaining 3,600 points, while pibuster's take earned over 43,000 points. Some users went beyond the standard template entirely. Redditor Harry34186 Photoshopped the image into a joke that earned 5,800 points, and MrFreedomMcBaguette brought it to r/historymemes with a history-themed variation.

Google Trends data shows searches for "Estos bastardos me mintieron" spiked in late October 2018 and peaked in early December before declining. English searches for "Those bastards lied to me" began appearing in the final days of 2018.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically follows a simple structure. The top text presents a claim, expectation, or commonly accepted "fact" that turns out to be untrue or misleading. Richard Harrison's reaction image sits below, expressing the user's feeling of betrayal. Common setups include:

- Promises that turned out to be lies ("When the teacher said the test would be easy") - Misleading expectations vs. reality ("When you finish college and don't immediately get a job") - Pop culture disappointments or ironic letdowns

The humor often comes from the gap between the stated promise and the actual outcome, with Harrison's deadpan frustration adding comedic weight to even minor grievances.

Cultural Impact

The meme's spread pattern is notable for its bilingual trajectory. Starting in Latin American Spanish-speaking communities before crossing into English-speaking platforms, it represents a clear case of meme migration across language barriers. The Latin American dub's slightly more dramatic phrasing ("Those bastards" plural, rather than the original "That little bastard" singular) gave the template broader applicability, since the plural form works better for situations involving systemic deception or general life disappointments.

The meme also gained emotional weight due to its connection to Richard Harrison's passing. His death on June 25, 2018 led to the memorial episode that brought the clip back into public consciousness just months before the meme format took off.

Fun Facts

The original English line is "That little bastard lied to me" (singular), but the Latin American dub changed it to the plural "Those bastards lied to me," which became the meme's actual catchphrase.

The meme format is closely related to the "So That Was a Fucking Lie" meme, which uses a different reaction image for the same basic joke structure.

The first known meme example referenced Dante's *Divine Comedy*, joking about reading the entire work and finding no actual jokes in it.

*Pawn Stars* has aired over 20 seasons since its 2009 premiere, making it one of the longest-running reality shows on the History channel.

Derivatives & Variations

Photoshopped variations:

Users edited the Harrison image into new contexts beyond the standard caption format, including file format jokes and history-themed mashups[3].

r/historymemes crossovers:

The template was adapted with historical scenarios on Reddit's history meme community[3].

Frequently Asked Questions