Meaning
What does Derp face mean?
The meme Derp face originates from the interjection “Derp”, which conveys one’s stupidity.
“Derp face” is a facial expression with usually crossed eyes, or turned in different directions and a funny smile.
The facial expression is used to characterize a real or fictional character as stupid.
Origin
What's the origin of Derp face?
The meme comes from the interjection “Derp”.
The origin is credited to the South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s line in the 1988 comedy called BASEketball.
The scene in which they are going through a woman’s drawer, finding underwear and different kinds of sex toys, leading to the expression “Derp”.
After that, in one South Park episode, named “The Succubus”, they created a character who inspired the meme “Derp Face”. In the episode, Mr. Derp hits himself on the head with a hammer. He responses to the event with a slack jaw and crossed eyes, mumbling the word “Derp”.
Spread & Usage
How did Derp face spread?
The South Park’s episode, feautiring Mr. Derp was apparently the inspiration for “Derp Face” in the meme culture.
The term became so popular after the famous comedy series, that the internet cartoons Ragecomics created their own “Derp face” characters, including the one named Herp Derp/Harp Darp.
By 2012-13 the meme became more and more famous, and it entered the mainstream media as well.
External resources
- Dictionary.com – Derp Face