Let That Sink In memes play on the two meanings of the well-known phrase, often depicting the literal meaning as a sink waiting outside of a door in an image macro. The meme was one of many frequently referenced puns online, but it took on a whole new meaning thanks to Elon Musk.
Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: @rfjdsakfjs/Tumblr
- Meme Type: Image Macros
- First Appearance: Nov. 2013
- Origin Source: Unknown
- Peak Popularity: Oct. 2022
Origin
The phrase Let That Sink In has a double meaning. When used in casual conversation, the saying indicates that you should give whatever you heard immediately before it additional consideration so that you really understand the meaning. If you read the phrase for its literal meaning, however, it sounds like one person telling another to allow a sink into their space.
The joke appeared in meme form in Nov. 2013, with a Tumblr post. The image macro depicted a bathroom sink in front of a door with a speech bubble that reads “knock knock.” The caption reads, “1990 was 23 years ago… let that sink in.”
In April 2014, another image with the same set up was shared on X by @StumblerVideos.
Elon Musk’s use and resurgence
The meme was used occasionally online but experienced a resurgence in 2022. It was then that Elon Musk brought the dual meaning to a whole new level.
Context
In January 2022, Musk began buying Twitter shares with the intention of becoming owner of the social media platform. By mid-March 2022, Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder. A few weeks later, he joined the board of directors at Twitter. He made his first official offer mid-April and after a period of negotiation, the offer was accepted before the month’s end.
The summer of 2022 was full of legal back-and-forth over the purchase. In October, a week before the acquisition was completed, Musk arrived at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, CA, with a literal wall-mounted sink in his hands.
“Entering Twitter HQ – Let That Sink In!” he captioned the video. In a follow-up tweet, he added, “Meeting a lot of cool people at Twitter today!”
Election 2024
Elon Musk decided to bring the joke back after Donald Trump was projected the winner of the 2024 United States Presidential Election. Just after midnight on Nov. 5, 2024, Musk tweeted a photo of him holding a sink photoshopped into the Oval Office. He shared the photo along with the caption, “Let that sink in.”
Since these two events, when Musk or other members of the federal government make headlines Let That Sink In memes start spreading. While some of the Let That Sink In memes are lauding the success they feel the current administration is having, others use it as a means of criticizing the same group.
Meme examples
More Elon Musk memes:
- Meme gods transformed Jumping Elon Musk into a distorted, bloated, jumping Elon Musk
- The ‘My Tesla Robot’ meme hilariously predicts how we’ll treat our future bots
- 25 of the funniest Cybertruck memes on the internet
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