# Whoosh "Whoosh" is the onomatopoeia internet users type when a joke sails over another poster's head, flagging that someone misread sarcasm or irony. Forum members on Straight Dope were already explaining the term in May 2005[1], and by late 2016 Reddit had a dedicated subreddit, /r/wooooosh, collecting missed-joke screenshots from across the web[4]. ## Origin User CougarSW2 submitted the earliest Urban Dictionary entry for "whoosh" on November 14, 2004, defining it as a sign that a joke had gone "way over their head"[4]. On May 6, 2005, Straight Dope Forums member Jim B. opened a thread titled "What does 'Whoosh' mean?" where user Governor Quinn explained it alerts a poster to a misread earlier comment[1]. A February 2008 Yahoo! Answers question confirmed the slang had already spread beyond any one board[7]. - **Platform:** Message boards (early use) / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2004 ## Overview Beyond the single-word reply, people often attach reaction GIFs that visualize the same idea: a cartoon ball or projectile labeled "joke" flying past a person's head. Known under tags like "you missed the joke" and "that's the joke," these clips include a Star Trek: The Next Generation GIF of an alien woman whiffing a catch[2] and an illustration graphing the trajectory of a joke above a cartoon skull[3]. Tone is almost always teasing instead of hostile. A commenter who answers a sarcastic post as if it were serious invites a one-word "whoosh" below, sometimes alongside the parrot image macro that circulated on the Piston Heads forum in October 2010[6]. The /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit also hosted a 2013 explainer thread for users who saw the slang without knowing its meaning[5]. ## How to Use Posters typically write a lone "whoosh" (sometimes stretched to "woosh" or "wooooosh") under a reply that reads a joke literally. Reaction GIFs or an image macro work as a visual alternative, often with the caption "you missed the joke" or "that's the joke." ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Whoosh? "Whoosh" is an online onomatopoeia for the sound of a joke flying over a reader's head, used to call out posters who miss sarcasm or irony[5]. ### Where did Whoosh come from? The usage was already being explained on Straight Dope Forums in May 2005[1], years before reaction GIFs and image macros picked up the same idea on Reddit[2]. ### What does Whoosh mean? Writing "whoosh" under a comment signals that the person misunderstood a previous post, typically by reading a sarcastic or ironic remark literally[1]. ### How do you use Whoosh? Reply with a lone "whoosh" under a literal reading of a joke, or post a reaction GIF of a projectile flying past someone's head like the /r/gifs orbit visualization[3]. ### Is Whoosh still popular? The /r/wooooosh subreddit launched in late 2016 and became the main hub for cataloging missed-joke screenshots from across the web[4]. ## References 1. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315327]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1313lv/this_is_how_i_feel_posting_on_reddit/]() 3. [https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/28vawy/the_best_joke_head_visualization_ive_seen_yet/]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/whoosh-you-missed-the-joke]() 5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/1j02yu/what_does_whoosh_mean/]() 6. [https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=922022]() 7. [https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080211181556AAjs5S2]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/whoosh-you-missed-the-joke Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library