About
“REEEEEEE” is an onomatopoeic expression of intense rage or frustration typically associated with the Angry Pepe character and used by those who frequent the /r9k/ board on 4chan. It is meant to represent the unique croak produced by several species of frogs when agitated.
Origin
Certain frog species are known to produce a shrill scream noise to ward of predators when threatened.[12][13] On October 25th, 2009, the earliest known video of this behavior was uploaded by YouTuber ppparaone, which gained over 2.5 million views and 4,600 comments in the next six years (shown below). This video would later one become even more popular with a screenshot of a comment, and spread to humor content aggregator clickbait websites such as Buzzfeed[14] or Smosh[15].
The earliest known archived use of the onomatopoeic version of the scream was submitted to 4chan’s /r9k/[7] board on December 27th, 2014, featuring an image of Pepe the Frog accompanied by the message “REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” (shown below).
Spread
On January 23rd, 2015, a series of posts with Angry Pepe images featuring the cries of frustration appeared on /r9k/.[6] On January 31st, a thread was submitted containing a picture of Pepe vomiting along with the expression, to which other users replied with audio clips of themselves making the screaming noise. Over the following weeks, additional posts were submitted featuring the onomatopoeic expression.[9]
On February 21st, a Redditor submitted the question “Why do people on 4chan’s r9k say ‘REEEEEE’ all of a sudden?” to the /r/OutOfTheLoop[16] subreddit, to which Redditor Dragon___ replied that the sound was similar to shrieks made by autistic people (shown below). On March 19th, Redditor Taaqif submitted another question about “Reeeeeee” comments to /r/OutOfTheLoop.[17]
Various Examples
“Fucking Normies! REEEEEEE!”
“Fucking Normies! REEEEEEE!” is an expression indicating rage against ‘normies’,, which is associated with the catchphrase “Fucking normies! Get out of my board!” used in audio recordings submitted to /r9k/.[2][3][4][5][10] On February 1st, 2015, YouTuber GoldenSodaXbox uploaded one of the recordings (shown below, left). On February 24th, YouTuber The Dank Memester uploaded a video titled “NORMIESGETOUT,” featuring several of the audio clips (shown below, right).
The audio clip inspired other parodies with various /r9k/ audio clips (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1]Archive.moe – re- ree- RE
[2]Archive.moe – ALLRIGHTNORMIES! THEDAY OF YOURDEMISEHASCOME
[3]Archive.moe – OFFICIAL’I’M GLAD IT’S DYING’ THREAD
[4]Archive.moe – EET General
[5]Archive.moe – I’M ABOUT TO VOMIT.
[6]Archive.moe – If you have ever:
[7]Archive.moe – ask a drunk femanon anything
[8]Archive.moe – Search for fucking normies on /r9k/
[9]Archive.moe – Search for ree on /r9k/
[10]Archive.moe – Search for fucking normies on /r9k/
[11]Reddit – Why do people on 4chan’s r9k say “REEEEEE” all of a sudden?
[12]Amphibian and Reptile Conservation – Frequently Asked Questions
[13]FrogLife.org – Frogs & toads: behaviour
[14]Buzzfeed – The 30 Most Important Moments In YouTube Comment History
[15]Smosh – 22 MORE Hilarious YouTube Comments
[16]Reddit – Why do people on 4chan’s r9k say “REEEEEE” all of a sudden?
[17]Reddit – What is Pepe normies and REEEEE