Meaning
What does Press F to Pay Respects mean?
Origin
What's the origin of Press F to Pay Respects?
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was released on November 4th, 2014.
The second mission of the game involves the player attending the funeral of their best friend, who died in South Korea.
Upon approaching the coffin of the fallen soldier, the player is prompted with “press F to pay respects”.
Spread & Usage
How did Press F to Pay Respects spread?
Many on the internet would mock the prompt on channels such as YouTube or Reddit.
The question was even attested by Conan O’Brien in his late-night show.
“Press F to pay respects” would develop into something completely different over time, as it the letter “f” would see frequent use in video game chats as well as Twitch as a way of expressing grief and sorrow after a failure.

External resources
- Dotesports.com – The origin of “Press F to Pay Respects”
- Kotaku.com – Five Years Of ‘F’ To Pay Respects
- Afkgaming.com – The Meaning of “Press F to Pay Respects” And Its Origin