finishing an assignment meme

The 'I Understood The Assignment' TikTok Audio Explained

A social media trend has reached peak popularity whenever brands start participating in it; by the time junior creatives and social media interns finish pitching and explaining a trend for approval, it's probably already been seen on every platform. So, with that in mind, it should be easy to backtrack the timeline of a trend to learn more about it when a brand joins in on the fun. One glaring exception is the Duolingo Owl — that's one up-to-date bird.

McDonalds' "I understood the assignment" era on Twitter began in the second half of 2021. So did  Starbucks '. With a calculation based on conjecture, the trend can be traced back to the beginning of 2021. We looked to Know Your Meme for confirmation, and it turns out we were right. This is what high school teachers meant when they said that we'd use math after graduating.

This particular phrase has garnered extreme attention across all social media platforms. On TikTok , videos submitted under the "I understood the assignment" hashtag have received more than 600 million views; an excess of 30,000 posts wear it on Instagram . But what does it mean? And why is there an entire song dedicated to it? Read on to learn more.

The 'I understood the assignment' trend has been used by celebrities

How was the "I understood the assignment" trend created? In March 2021, a Twitter user @thering26 posted stills of Uma Thurman in numerous acting roles. "Uma Thurman will always understand the assignment," the accompanying text read. Soon, the phrase and meme format spread across Twitter like wildfire; it is used to describe someone who knows how to get the job done (via Know Your Meme ). The meme format is particularly popular for talking about actors who can pull off very different roles with top-notch acting.

A few months later, artist Tay Money put a new spin on the trend. She released a song that claimed she understood " The Assignment ." The artist herself used a part of the song that said "I understood the assignment" on TikTok. This led to a trend of people posting accomplishments and stories that proved that they knew what was expected of them and went above and beyond (via Know Your Meme ). 

Even celebrities hopped on the trend. Taylor Swift used it to promote "All Too Well" (via YouTube ) and basically immortalized the phrase. There are currently around 250 million views on the "the assignment" hashtag on TikTok . It also led to the creation of another relatable sound that remixes Tay Money's song with Reese Witherspoon in "Legally Blonde" saying, " Actually, I wasn't aware that we had an assignment ." And that's how one meme took over the internet. 

29 Memes That Perfectly Describe The End Of Semester Struggle

Keep that chin up - that holiday break will be here before you know it. Take a study break and enjoy these memes .

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10 Funny Memes that Totally Sum Up Finishing University

Graduation season is nearly upon us – time flies when you’re having fun (and studying for hours on end)! However, before you get there, you have the last few weeks of uni to contend with. Completing your studies is an exciting prospect but there’s a lot to get through before you’re finally a graduate! We’ve put together some funny memes that anyone finishing university will definitely relate to.

1. Roll Safe

You can’t be late for the lecture if you don’t go to the lecture. Plus, there’s not much point, you’ve already mentally checked out.

2. Why Are You Like This?

You promised yourself you’d go to all of your final lectures and make really good revision notes. You swore that you wouldn’t leave all of your essays until the last minute. You were certain you’d do all of your studying way in advance. You didn’t, though. Oops.

3. Guy Blinking

You’re drowning in work, lectures haven’t finished, you still have deadlines to meet… Surely no one can be on top of things! Oh. Your friend just told you that they’ve finished all of their work ahead of time.

4. Salt Bae

Dissertation word counts are a killer. So, sometimes you’ve got to improvise when the submission deadline is approaching. You might have to get your Salt Bae on and sprinkle some filler words here and there to bump up that word count! We promise we won’t tell.

5.  Trump Draws

When you hand in your final essay and you still have no idea what it was about. Who needs a central thesis anyway? All you know is one thing: you never want to write an essay again. Ever.

6. Danielle ‘Cash Me Outside’ Bregoli

When someone takes credit for the group project and they did absolutely nothing. There’s always that one person who never goes to the group meetings, skips seminars and only shows up on presentation day. Yet they manage to wing it so well that they actually knock it out of the park. Yep, we all low key hate that person.

7. Forrest Gump

Actual footage of you after your last exam. As soon as it’s over and the invigilator says you’re allowed to leave, you’re out of there. You’re finally free!

8. This Ryan Gosling Fan

When results day is finally here and your grades are no way near as terrible as you thought they’d be. Shocker! Maybe those energy drink fuelled, late night cramming sessions were worth it after all. You almost feel stupid for crying (a lot).

9. Michelle Obama – First Lady of Sass

When you’re presented with your degree and you start to wonder if you paid £27,000 for a piece of paper. At least it will look good above your mum’s fireplace, right? Right?!

10. Happy Seal

Congratulations, you’re a graduate! All your hard work has paid off and now you’re ready to get out into the world of work . Well done!

If you’re not sure what to do after finishing university , we have some great advice to share with you. Check out our Graduates Portal where you’ll find jobs, career advice and job hunting tips!

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Man or bear? Hypothetical question sparks conversation about women's safety

Women explain why they would feel safer encountering a bear in the forest than a man they didn't know. the hypothetical has sparked a broader discussion about why women fear men..

If you were alone in the woods, would you rather encounter a bear or a man? Answers to that hypothetical question have sparked a debate about why the vast majority say they would feel more comfortable choosing a bear.

The topic has been hotly discussed for weeks as men and women chimed in with their thoughts all over social media.

Screenshot HQ , a TikTok account, started the conversation, asking a group of women whether they would rather run into a man they didn't know or a bear in the forest. Out of the seven women interviewed for the piece, only one picked a man.

"Bear. Man is scary," one of the women responds.

A number of women echoed the responses given in the original video, writing in the comments that they, too, would pick a bear over a man. The hypothetical has people split, with some expressing their sadness over the state of the world and others cracking jokes. Some men were flabbergasted.

Here's what we know.

A bear is the safer choice, no doubt about it, many say

There were a lot of responses, more than 65,000, under the original post. Many wrote that they understood why the women would choose a bear.

"No one’s gonna ask me if I led the bear on or give me a pamphlet on bear attack prevention tips," @celestiallystunning wrote.

@Brennduhh wrote: "When I die leave my body in the woods, the wolves will be gentler than any man."

"I know a bear's intentions," another woman wrote. "I don't know a man's intentions. no matter how nice they are."

Other TikTok users took it one step further, posing the hypothetical question to loved ones. Meredith Steele, who goes by @babiesofsteele , asked her husband last week whether he would rather have their daughter encounter a bear or a man in the woods. Her husband said he "didn't like either option" but said he was leaning toward the bear.

"Maybe it's a friendly bear," he says.

Diana, another TikTok user , asked her sister-in-law what she would choose and was left speechless.

"I asked her the question, you know, just for giggles. She was like, 'You know, I would rather it be a bear because if the bear attacks me, and I make it out of the woods, everybody’s gonna believe me and have sympathy for me," she said. "But if a man attacks me and I make it out, I’m gonna spend my whole life trying to get people to believe me and have sympathy for me.'"

Bear vs. man debate stirs the pot, woman and some men at odds

The hypothetical has caused some tension, with some women arguing that men will never truly understand what it's like to be a woman or the inherent dangers at play.

Social media users answered this question for themselves, producing memes, spoken word poetry and skits in the days and weeks since.

So, what would you choose?

when you finally finish an assignment