On October 27, 2026, a post called “Very true” appeared in r/antimeme. The most entertaining part of the visible discussion was not a grand punchline. People argued about what qualifies as an anti-meme, debated whether anyone reads the post flair, and wandered into a reply chain consisting of “Cat,” “Car?” and “car.” A community dedicated to removing jokes accidentally staged a comedy about the rules for removing jokes.
First, what is an anti-meme?
A conventional meme sets up a funny reversal. An anti-meme takes the familiar setup and answers it literally, mundanely, or exactly as expected. Imagine a dramatic “What happens next?” panel answered with “The next thing happens.” The missing punchline is the point. r/antimeme's moderation guidance explicitly distinguishes removing a punchline from replacing it with a new pun or joke.
Actual reaction one: stop turning everything into a normal meme
One public commenter complained that the community was not meant to be about editing a meme until it becomes normal. Another replied that this is largely what the subreddit does now; someone else preferred the edited versions anyway. These are different commenters' positions, not a single staged conversation. The delicious contradiction: the place that subtracts humor is now arguing over the correct method of subtraction.
Actual reaction two: read the flair—or don't?
A participant told others to read the post's flair, the label attached to a Reddit submission. A reply countered that the same label also appears on edited posts. Another quipped that Redditors had lost the ability to read flairs, drawing the comeback that this happened long ago. Some replies speculated about how Reddit displays labels; those are user observations, not independently verified product changes.
Actual reaction three: Cat → Car? → car
Under an image reply, the public thread records three tiny messages in sequence: “Cat,” then “Car?”, then “car.” In English, cat and car differ by one letter. The sequence works as a miniature derailment: the argument is busy defining humor while another corner of the room is moving a single consonant. The attached image was not fully inspectable here, so this is a description of the verified text exchange, not a claim about what the picture depicts.
Original sketch: The Department of Anti-Jokes
The following dialogue is original fiction, not a Reddit quotation.
Inspector: “Does your meme have a punchline?” Applicant: “No.” Inspector: “Excellent. What flair did you use?” Applicant: “The correct one.” Inspector: “And what does it mean?” Applicant: “The comments are still deciding.” Clerk: “Should I title these minutes ‘Minutes’?” Inspector: “Perfect. One final question: cat?” Clerk: “Cat.” Inspector: “Approved. Reclassified as car.” Applicant: “Why?” Inspector: “That's the appeal process.”
The payoff
“Very true” became a neat example of online comedy eating its own instruction manual. They came to remove the punchline and accidentally gave the rulebook one.
