# You Keep Using That Word I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
> You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means is a 2007 catchphrase image macro from The Princess Bride's Inigo Montoya, used to humorously correct misuse of vocabulary.
"You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means" is a catchphrase and image macro from the 1987 film *The Princess Bride*, delivered by the character Inigo Montoya after his boss Vizzini repeatedly misuses the word "inconceivable"[1]. The scene appeared online via YouTube in 2007 and was picked up in forum arguments shortly after, with the Advice Animal-style image macro format appearing on Reddit in 2011 and peaking around 2012[2]. It became the internet's go-to response for politely correcting someone who clearly doesn't understand the word they just used.
## Origin
The line comes from the 1987 fantasy comedy *The Princess Bride*, directed by Rob Reiner and adapted by William Goldman from his own 1973 novel[3]. In the film, Sicilian criminal Vizzini (played by Wallace Shawn) keeps exclaiming "Inconceivable!" as events go sideways on his plans[2]. After one too many misuses, his companion Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin) turns to him and says: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means"[1].
A YouTube channel called Bagheadclips uploaded the clip on February 4, 2007[4]. The video collected over 644,000 views by mid-2012 and quickly found its way into online arguments as a correction tool[2].
- **Platform:** YouTube (clip upload), Reddit (image macro format)
- **Creator:** Unknown (community-created from *The Princess Bride*)
- **Date:** 2007 (online), 2011 (image macro format)
## Overview
The meme features a still image of actor Mandy Patinkin as the swordsman Inigo Montoya, typically with white Impact font text overlaid in the Advice Animal style[2]. The top line reads "You keep using that word" (sometimes specifying which word), and the bottom reads "I do not think it means what you think it means." The format sat alongside contemporaries like Good Guy Greg and Bad Luck Brian during the Advice Animal era's peak[2]. People deploy it as a reaction in comment threads, social media posts, and online debates whenever someone confidently uses a word incorrectly[1].
## How It Spread
The YouTube clip started showing up in Reddit comment threads as early as January 2008[2]. By 2010, the quote was also appearing on 4chan boards to call out incorrect terminology[2].
The meme's most recognizable form arrived on June 18, 2011, when the first Advice Animal-style image macro was posted to Reddit's /r/AdviceAnimals[4]. That particular image used "decimate" as its example of misuse, tapping into a long-running pedantic debate: the word originally described a Roman military punishment of killing one in every ten soldiers, but modern English uses it to mean widespread destruction[6]. The format spread quickly to other subreddits, and by mid-2012 the Quickmeme page had 640 submissions while the Memegenerator page featured over 1,800 entries[4].
Beyond Reddit, instances appeared on Memebase, Tumblr (under the tag "I do not think it means what you think it means"), and other platforms throughout 2012[2]. The meme peaked during this period, riding the same Advice Animal wave that defined early 2010s internet humor[2]. TV Tropes created a dedicated page for the trope "You Keep Using That Word," cataloguing hundreds of examples of characters misusing words across film, television, comics, and fan fiction, all anchored to the *Princess Bride* line[1].
## How to Use
The standard format places a screenshot of Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya with white Impact font text:
1. **Top text:** "You keep using that word [X]" where X is the word being called out, or simply "You keep using that word"
2. **Bottom text:** "I do not think it means what you think it means"
## Cultural Impact
*The Princess Bride* was not a box office smash on release but grew into a beloved cult film over the following decades. TV Tropes naming an entire trope category after the Montoya line was an unusual crossover between internet meme culture and media criticism[1]. The page tracks word-misuse gags across comics, animation, fan fiction, and live-action media, making Montoya's quote a formal cataloguing term for a storytelling device[1].
Mandy Patinkin's connection to the role went beyond the meme. He has spoken about using the revenge scene as a way to symbolically fight the cancer that killed his real father, giving the character an emotional weight that fans have connected with for decades[5].
## Fun Facts
- The very first image macro in this format targeted the word "decimate," making a case that it should only mean "destroy one-tenth" based on its Roman military origins[6].
- TV Tropes named an entire trope category after the quote, tracking word-misuse gags across hundreds of media properties in one of the meme's most unusual legacies[1].
- Mandy Patinkin has called *The Princess Bride* his most personally meaningful role, saying he channeled his grief over his father's death from cancer into the revenge scene[5].
- *The Princess Bride* produced at least four distinct meme formats from a single film, including "Inconceivable!," the Inigo Montoya revenge quote, and the "Classic Blunders" speech[2].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is "You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means"?
It's a catchphrase and image macro meme from the 1987 film *The Princess Bride*, featuring the character Inigo Montoya correcting someone's misuse of a word[2].
### Where did the meme come from?
The line is from *The Princess Bride*, spoken by Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) to Vizzini (Wallace Shawn). A clip hit YouTube in February 2007, and the image macro format started on Reddit in 2011[2].
### What does the meme mean?
It's deployed to point out that someone is using a word or phrase incorrectly, especially when they're doing so with confidence. The tone mirrors Montoya's patient exasperation from the original scene[1].
### How do you use the meme?
Place a screenshot of Inigo Montoya with "You keep using that word" at the top and "I do not think it means what you think it means" at the bottom. Swap in the specific misused word for maximum effect[2].
### Is "You Keep Using That Word" still popular?
The meme peaked around 2012 during the Advice Animal era but is still widely recognized and regularly deployed in online word-usage debates[2].
### Who plays Inigo Montoya?
Mandy Patinkin, an American actor also known for *Chicago Hope*, *Criminal Minds*, and *Homeland*[2].
### What movie is the meme from?
*The Princess Bride* (1987), a fantasy comedy directed by Rob Reiner and written by William Goldman[1].
### What word was Vizzini misusing?
Vizzini repeatedly says "inconceivable!" to describe events that are clearly happening right in front of him, which prompts Montoya's correction[1].
### When did the image macro version start?
The first Advice Animal-style image macro appeared on Reddit in 2011, with the format peaking in popularity around 2012[2].
### What does "decimate" actually mean?
The word originally referred to a Roman military punishment where one in every ten soldiers was executed. The first image macro highlighted this disconnect with its modern use as a synonym for total destruction[6].
### What other memes came from The Princess Bride?
The film spawned several memes including "Inconceivable!," "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," and "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders"[2].
## References
1. [You Keep Using That Word – Meaning, Origin, Usage]()
2. [Top 10 Misused English Words - Listverse]()
3. [You Keep Using That Word - TV Tropes]()
4. [You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means - Know Your Meme]()
5. [When Life Gives You Tangerines]()
6. [The Princess Bride (film)]()
7. [Mandy Patinkin]()
8. [Inigo Montoya]()
9. [Wallace Shawn]()
10. [The Princess Bride (film) - Wikipedia]()
11. [Decimation (punishment) - Wikipedia]()
12. [ChanArchive.com is for sale | HugeDomains]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library