Gleaning Meaning/Medialand: Herp Derp, Hurr Durr…

A cherrybomb string of gleanmean encounters kicks off with a link to a thread on Reddit that my friend Sean Perlmutter sends me. The thread discusses various contributors’ top three most enlightening books. A number of people have something to say about World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks. Someone comments about the book’s references to herp derps. Ah, so what is a herp derp? Turns out it’s a well-known variant of a bona fide internet meme. In general terms, a derp is an expression of stupidity, like duh or doh. More specifically, it can be a physical expression made by walling the eyes outward. (I can’t will my eyes go to like this. Can you?). A herp derp seems to be a more extrememe version of the same thing, sometimes with a lolled tongue added to the walled-out eyes for an even more sublime expression of utter stupidity. Like a zombie, I guess, or like this Boston terrier—who exhibits a variant of the herp derp meme known as a hurr durr….