Thumbs Up Crying Cat

2019reaction imageclassic

Thumbs Up Crying Cat is a reaction image of a cat with photoshopped teary eyes giving a thumbs up, first posted to Reddit in June 2019. It caught on in April 2020 as a way to signal reluctant compliance or fake positivity through obvious sadness.

catsreaction memesphotoshop memessuppressed emotion memessubreddit origin memes

Overview

Thumbs Up Crying Cat is a reaction image showing a cat with photoshopped teary eyes giving a thumbs up. It also goes by Thumbs Up Sad Cat or Crying Cat Meme with Hand3. The combination reads as reluctant compliance, a way of saying okay while very clearly not being okay.

The image builds on the earlier Crying Cat template, itself a photoshopped variant of Serious Cat with glassy, watery eyes edited on top3. Adding the thumb shifts the emotional register from straight sadness into something closer to forced positivity, which is what gave this specific version its own life as a distinct reaction from plain Crying Cat.

How It Spread

The reaction image took off in April 2020. On April 18, Twitter user @SaoryEmanoelle replied to a @RespectfulMemes post about one-sided friendships, using the image captioned "They not thinking about us though lmao".

On June 22, 2020, Redditor edmemesthrowawaybby posted it to /r/EDanonymemes with a caption about intrusive body-image thoughts during a hug with a boyfriend, pulling over 200 upvotes at 100% approval.

The image hit /r/dankmemes later that summer. On July 27, 2020, user mijuzz7 posted a captioned version there that pulled over 47,000 upvotes at 96% approval inside three days.

How to Use This Meme

People typically drop the image under a caption about accepting a bad outcome, giving a polite response through obvious distress, or agreeing to something they actually hate. First-person captions about relationships, body image, mental health, or awkward social replies are common conventions. The joke lands when the text says fine and the picture says otherwise.

Frequently Asked Questions

Thumbs Up Crying Cat

2019reaction imageclassic

Thumbs Up Crying Cat is a reaction image of a cat with photoshopped teary eyes giving a thumbs up, first posted to Reddit in June 2019. It caught on in April 2020 as a way to signal reluctant compliance or fake positivity through obvious sadness.

cats reaction memes photoshop memes suppressed emotion memes subreddit origin memes

Overview

Thumbs Up Crying Cat is a reaction image showing a cat with photoshopped teary eyes giving a thumbs up. It also goes by Thumbs Up Sad Cat or Crying Cat Meme with Hand. The combination reads as reluctant compliance, a way of saying okay while very clearly not being okay.

The image builds on the earlier Crying Cat template, itself a photoshopped variant of Serious Cat with glassy, watery eyes edited on top. Adding the thumb shifts the emotional register from straight sadness into something closer to forced positivity, which is what gave this specific version its own life as a distinct reaction from plain Crying Cat.

How It Spread

The reaction image took off in April 2020. On April 18, Twitter user @SaoryEmanoelle replied to a @RespectfulMemes post about one-sided friendships, using the image captioned "They not thinking about us though lmao".

On June 22, 2020, Redditor edmemesthrowawaybby posted it to /r/EDanonymemes with a caption about intrusive body-image thoughts during a hug with a boyfriend, pulling over 200 upvotes at 100% approval.

The image hit /r/dankmemes later that summer. On July 27, 2020, user mijuzz7 posted a captioned version there that pulled over 47,000 upvotes at 96% approval inside three days.

How to Use This Meme

People typically drop the image under a caption about accepting a bad outcome, giving a polite response through obvious distress, or agreeing to something they actually hate. First-person captions about relationships, body image, mental health, or awkward social replies are common conventions. The joke lands when the text says fine and the picture says otherwise.

Frequently Asked Questions