The shrimps is bugs meme refers to a phrase tattooed on Redditor u/Lewbular‘s leg, which went viral after he asked for cover-up ideas on the r/TattooDesigns subreddit. Those three little words had a surprisingly huge cultural influence, inspiring many other tattoos and investigations into the origins of the shrimp.
Here’s how it all came about.
Is shrimps bugs?
Let’s get the most important question for cocktail shrimp lovers out of the way first. Is shrimp actually bugs? Technically, no. A shrimp is a crustacean, like a crab or lobster.
However.
The average person doesn’t necessarily identify organic life with the same precision as a scientist writing names in Latin on a chalkboard. Do you consider pill bugs to be insects, for example? Well, they’re crustaceans as well, but you will probably not fry them up in a pan with butter and garlic.
And, though people find them delicious, shrimp certainly have a lot in common with creatures like cockroaches, scorpions, and silverfish. They’re kind of a visual amalgam of a lot of insects we all know and would probably not eat in casual circumstances.
So if shrimps look like bugs to you, that’s completely understandable.
Where did the ‘shrimps is bugs’ tattoo come from?
Reddit user u/Lewbular posted a picture of his “shrimps is bugs” tattoo in November 2023 to the /r/TattooDesigns page. It is in simple font just above his knee.
Originally, he was asking for suggestions to cover it up, writing, “I need ideas for a horizontal design for this dumb tattoo I got above my knee when I was 19. I like American traditional/black and grey type stuff but I haven’t been able to find any designs that would cover it and look good. Any ideas are appreciated. P.s. the little guy above it can stay or go as long as shrimps is bugs is covered.”
Maybe he was tired of being told that shrimp are actually crustaceans. But the comments were flooded with people who loved the tattoo and didn’t want him to cover it up at all.
The most upvoted comment reads, “Why should you cover up the truth?”
Shrimps is bugs memes
The post became so popular it inspired a series of other tattoo designs reading the same thing. There is even an r/ShrimpsIsBugs subreddit where people can post their work dedicated to the meme.
Like this incredible cake from u/g0back2bed:
Or just memes in the wild.
But a lot of the memes are tattoos, to honor the original.
