It’s only a joke, people!

Or is it…?

Hmmm, I guess you never know how things will turn out…

And today we’re going to hear from folks on AskReddit about things that started as jokes but are taken way too seriously by people now.

Let’s see what they had to say!

1. It sure is…

“Scientology.

L. Ron Hubbard’s long game is strong…”

2. Hmmm…

“Flat earth (the most recent trend).

Its origins are hilarious (like chem trails) and now the same people also started the “all birds are not real” thing, and its catching on jist like their last joke… people are so gullible and stupid.”

3. Sarcasm.

“”Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”

Get on the floor and try it. It’s impossible. That’s the meaning. It was originally used as a sarcastic joke.

But today it means the opposite because fanatical capitalists co-opted the phrase and changed the meaning to the opposite.”

4. Gross.

“The whole sigma male Patrick Bateman trend.

12 year olds took it seriously and have been radicalized enough to genuinely embrace it as a lifestyle – not to mention they all have the same personality and consume the same exact media.”

5. Give it a shot…

“Nyquil chicken.

There was a guy who made a video on TikTok jokingly saying that he had a great recipe for cooking chicken with Nyquil. A few people made response videos, but everyone who saw it knew it was a joke.

Then mainstream media picked it up, and blew it out of proportion. They made it sound like it was an actual trend for people to be cooking Nyquil. There are already plenty of problems on TikTok, we don’t need to invent new ones to complain about.”

6. Could it have been real?

“The p**p knife.

There is no way that s**t was real.

Some people are so invested in believing it, though.”

7. Come on, people.

“Birds aren’t real.

I believe the guy who started it actually came out saying it was all intended as a joke and he’s surprised people actually take it seriously now.”

8. It really took off.

“Karens.

At first the label was funny. Then it actually became a judgemental epithet.

Thousands of women with a perfectly good name, now having to deal with jokes and general c**p from everyone they meet.”

9. Brainwashed.

“I feel like horoscopes started as just a gimmick to allow people to feel special in some way, something you’d find on a chinese restaurant menu on the back side.

Now there’s people who are basically brainwashed by it.”

10. Got out of hand.

“Q Anon.

They were making fun of how unbelievably stupid does not exist, as you must in fact believe how stupid people can actually be in real life once they start doing it.

Then it got… a tad out of hand.”

11. Try it out!

“No Nut November.

It was literally a satire meme making fun of other “internet challenges” and now some people think it’s legit.”

12. Well, it happened…

“Donald Trump running for President.

In 2000, this was a joke on The Simpsons.

President Lisa Simpson inherited a broken economy from former President Trump.”