Meaning
What does I Like Turtles mean?
I like turtles refers to an iconic phrase, said by a ten-year-old Jonathan Ware in an interview at the Rose Festival in Portland.
After the interview was featured in television and uploaded online, the expression went viral and became a popular piece of reference.
Origin
What's the origin of I Like Turtles?
“I like turtles” was said by Jonathan Ware on May 31st, 2007, on the Rose Festival in Portland, Oregon.
He dropped the line, after being approached by KGW news reporter Nancy Francis, posing the question “What do you think?”.
The kid, posing a face paint of a zombie briefly replied, “I like turtles.”
The footage was first uploaded to YouTube by CaptJax458 on June 11th, 2007.
Spread & Usage
How did I Like Turtles spread?
“I like turtles” quickly turned into an online sensation, as reuploads and remixes would swarm YouTube as well as social media sites like MySpace, where eventually Jonathan Ware’s sister discovered her brother’s newfound fame.
By November 2007, the line was defined on Urban Dictionary, with several other entries having been added since then.
Jonathan Ware started a YouTube channel, centered around gaming in 2013, however the channel was deleted since then.
External resources
- Kgw.com – ‘I like turtles’ became a phenomenon exactly 12 years ago
- Metro.co.uk – This is what ‘I like Turtles’ boy looks like now
- Bustle.com – Whatever Happened To This Kid?