Meaning
What does Ermahgerd mean?
Ermahgerd is a series of image macros, centered around the rhotacized pronunciation of people equipped with orthodontic braces.
The meme features a young woman, holding up a handful of pieces from the children’s horror book series, Goosebumps, while the caption “ermahgerd” stands for “oh my god”.
The macro series can also be referred to as “Gersberms” or “Berks.”
Origin
What's the origin of Ermahgerd?
The photo, that was chosen to be the template of a new meme was first uploaded to Reddit’s /r/funny subreddit in March 14th 2012, with the title “Just a book owner’s smile…”
The girl with the weird smile and a bunch of books instantly became associated with the speech impediment of people with orthodontic retainers, who are often book lovers.
The same day, an image macro was already uploaded to Reddit, that had amassed a large amount of up votes.
Spread & Usage
How did Ermahgerd spread?
In the following days and months, the meme had spread like wildfire across all kinds of online forums and message boards, from the various subreddits of Reddit to dark threads on 4chan to Funnyjunk to even YouTube videos.
The first Urban Dictionary entry was written in the same year, with several other definitions accumulation on the site since that time.
“Ermahgerd” memes can be found on all platforms on the internet now, seeing how it was a classic meme during the golden age of memeing.