Viral

Is This A Pigeon? No, It’s A Meme, And Here Are Some Of The Funniest Ones

Nagoya TV

You may have seen the picture above making the rounds on Twitter. It’s taken from an episode of ’90s anime series The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird (yes, that’s how it’s spelled), specifically from a scene in which an android doesn’t know what butterflies are called, asking “Is this a pigeon?” The screencap has been the subject of memes since 2011, but it’s had a big resurgence on Twitter over the past few weeks.

One of the earliest tweets during the resurgence of the meme came from Netflix, who were making fun of adults being cast as teenagers in TV shows:

Black Panther references were also common, with the second tweet here fittingly coming from a Disney animator:

Some people meme’d their feelings:

https://twitter.com/chvschpr/status/980101365480415232

I feel personally attacked by some of these…

https://twitter.com/JMarcusGuevarra/status/993378536504229888
https://twitter.com/NOTVIKING/status/993541072583356416

https://twitter.com/mumble_sauce/status/995168786775986177

Others vented their frustrations about work:

People also used the meme to take aim at Jimmy Fallon, the Met Gala, Eurovision, Microsoft Excel, and the entire state of California.

https://twitter.com/PatchNavillus/status/993695340787322881
https://twitter.com/mathaiaus/status/994521862242615297

https://twitter.com/tilton_raccoon/status/993692327456616448

Others took aim at guys they’re mad at:

https://twitter.com/romiosini/status/989363885881819136
https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/995655591765970944

https://twitter.com/rfetts/status/994780011356983296

Some people delved into art history:

Via Twitter

Others delved into English history:

But the funniest memes arrived when some clever so-and-sos went subversive or meta with it, or combined the meme with other recent memes:

https://twitter.com/RunningInThe2K/status/994926449550340097

https://twitter.com/tastefactory/status/994310360071991296

(Hat tip to Know Your Meme)

×