I Like Turtles
A 2007 non-sequitur from a zombie-face-painted 10-year-old at a Portland news interview, one of the internet's earliest viral catchphrases.
'I Like Turtles' is a deadpan non-sequitur used to signal blissful cluelessness or a total change of subject, taken from a 2007 local news clip. It's one of the internet's oldest viral catchphrases, predating the modern meme ecosystem, and is often used the way people now use phrases like 'anyway.'
History
On May 31st, 2007, 10-year-old Jonathon Ware was at the Rose Festival in Portland, Oregon, with his face painted like a zombie. A KGW local news reporter asked him about the paint job, and Ware simply replied, 'I like turtles.' A viewer uploaded the clip to YouTube on June 10th, 2007, under the username 3mediapro, and it spread widely, inspiring remixes, merchandise, and media appearances. In July 2023, Ware — by then an adult — reprised the moment for a Paramount Pictures ad for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Cultural scores
Editorial estimates of cultural weight — Current Popularity tracks how much people are posting about this now, not historical fame.
Current Popularity = how actively people are posting about this today. Influence = lasting footprint. Cringe = online reception. Brainrot = absurdist energy. How scoring works
Timeline
2007-05-31
Jonathon Ware says 'I like turtles' during a KGW news interview at the Rose Festival
2007-06-10
YouTube user 3mediapro uploads the clip, which quickly goes viral
2023-07-27
Ware reprises the role as an adult in a Paramount Pictures TMNT ad
Examples
- “Responding to a question you don't want to answer with a flat 'I like turtles'”
- “Using the phrase as a random, jarring change of subject in conversation”
- “'Everyone in my family is good at math and I'm over here like: I like turtles'”
Related entries
Culturally linked — not random recommendations.
Charlie Bit My Finger
MemeThe 2007 British home video of Harry and baby Charlie — 'Charlie bit me' — one of YouTube's defining early viral hits.
Leave Britney Alone
MemeCara Cunningham's tearful 2007 plea to leave Britney Spears alone — peak early-YouTube melodrama and remix bait.
Star Wars Kid
MemeGhyslain Raza's private lightsaber-practice tape leaked online — an early viral video that also became a cautionary cyberbullying story.
Rickroll
MemeThe internet's most legendary bait-and-switch — Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' disguised as something else.
4chan
EventThe anonymous English imageboard that forged Pepe, rickrolls, rage comics, and a huge share of modern meme grammar.
Afro Ninja
MemeMark Allen Hicks's failed audition backflip — the 2000s fail-video that made 'Afro Ninja' synonymous with spectacular wipeouts.
References
Sources behind this entry. Prefer primary reporting and established culture archives over rumor.
- I like turtles — Dictionary.com Memes
dictionary.com