Here's What The "Eeby Deeby" Meme That's Been Trending On Tumblr Is All About

There’s a new trend hitting Tumblr, and it’s a meme that deserves a whole lot of explanation. Right off the bat, the "eeby deeby" meme is somewhat of a question mark, thanks to being comprised of two made-up words and all. It most recently went viral on Tumblr in early February 2021 with a meme that contained an image of an elevator and the words — you guessed it — "eeby deeby." You'll need to know exactly what the "eeby deeby" elevator meme is to get in on the jokes, so here’s a little meme history to get you started.

The latest iteration of the “eeby deeby” meme is thanks to a Feb. 1 post from Tumblr user @theweirdwideweb, who uploaded an image of an elevator with the caption, "Where the f*ck is this thing taking me?" The elevator floor on the screen isn't a number; instead it reads, “eeby deeby,” which is likely referencing a robot noise from earlier "eeby deeby" memes (more on that later). Essentially, the meme implies that the rider is heading to some version of purgatory or hell, but it's denoted as a robot noise. LOL? The meme isn't particularly hilarious, but the ridiculous phrase does give it some meme cred (and it appears to be a mash-up of two existing memes), which is why Tumblr users have been making plenty of iterations of the meme all month long.

First, let's dig into "eeby deeby." According to Know Your Meme, "eeby deeby" emerged as a meme of a comic strip/TV show called Buck Rogers. The "eeby deeby" noise is from the 1970s TV Show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, where a character called Twiki says it. It was then used as a meme in October 2019 in a series of edited Buck Rogers comics with Twiki. It's essentially a joke about a robot's lack of ~human~ features: The man says, “Your d*ck cold," and the robot replies, "eeby deeby." Again, LOL?

As for the elevator portion of the new "eeby deeby" meme, it likely comes from a 2018 meme that has a similar photo of an elevator that reads "UwU" on the screen — "UwU" is in reference to an emoticon that conveys happiness or smugness, per Know Your Meme. One redditor also shared an image of the same elevator screen that reads "hell," which may also be where the 2021 "eeby deeby" meme comes from. It seems the elevator image has been used for multiple memes, and it's most recently lent itself to "eeby deeby."

However it started, the unexpected combination of the two memes seems to be a hit, as there are a wide variety of "eeby deeby" memes floating around Tumblr. Most of them just put "eeby deeby" into a new scenario sans elevator, but we're really just here for the "eeby deeby" anyhow, right? There's a Monopoly "Go To Jail" square meme, which reads, "Go To Eeby Deeby." There's also a play on words with "Highway to hell, stairway to heaven, elevator to eeby deeby." TBH, there are endless "eeby deeby" memes, and it seems Tumblr likes it that way.

If you haven't been on Tumblr in a while, Gen Z has made it ~the~ place to be. According to the platform, nearly half of Tumbler users are Gen Zers who are there for blog format and the memes — especially the memes.

Usually memes are just a slight play on an image or pop culture moment, but as you can see, the "eeby deeby" elevator meme isn't a regular meme, it's a ~cool~ meme. Now that you've got your full education, you can check out more hilarious iterations on Tumblr.