Blue Grinch Knee Surgery Meme Explained: What It Is, Why It’s Everywhere, and How It Got So Weird
The Blue Grinch Knee Surgery Meme, sometimes shortened to just Blue Grinch, is a surreal, highly specific internet joke that exploded into niche meme culture. Its centerpiece is a blue-tinted version of the Grinch with a smug smirk, paired with the phrase: “That feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow.”
Originally a quiet, ironic meme posted by a handful of fringe creators in the early 2020s, the meme slowly embedded itself into meme subcultures like r/OddlySpecific and r/Kneesurgerymemes. But it wasn’t until 2024 and 2025 that the meme experienced a full-blown renaissance, showing up across TikTok, being reposted by the official Dr. Seuss Instagram, appearing in Spotify Wrapped parodies, and even being co-opted by political TikToks and cryptocurrency projects.
Keep reading to understand where it came from, why it spread, and how even a grumpy Grinch in blue became an unlikely icon of weird internet humor.
What Is the Blue Grinch Knee Surgery Meme?
The Blue Grinch Knee Surgery meme, also known as “That Feeling When Knee Surgery Is Tomorrow,” is an absurdly specific internet joke that took off thanks to TikTok and meme subreddits.
It features a surreal image of the Grinch—tinted blue—smirking with ominous glee, often paired with impact-font text.
The phrase and photo together exaggerate the bizarre, oddly cheerful anticipation before undergoing knee surgery. It’s saturated in irony and layered nostalgia.
Source: Reddit User
Where Did It Come From?
The Blue Grinch Knee Surgery meme originally started as a fringe internet joke. The first known instance was a more innocent version posted to MemeCreator.org and later reposted to the Instagram page @stupid.fricken.meme on April 6, 2021, featuring an excited squirrel with the same line: That feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow.
Source: AntiqueProcedure3265
Soon after, on August 2, 2021, Redditor /u/ZyeAxe posted a low-resolution image of Drake in a meme listicle format referencing knee surgery. That same day, the subreddit r/Kneesurgerymemes was created. Now this subreddit has about 4,000 members.
Rise of the Blue Grinch Variant
The meme truly mutated into something iconic on March 14, 2022, when Instagram user @blinch.feels posted a version featuring the Grinch, heavily filtered and tinted blue, smirking in a dreamlike void. It gathered modest traction—about 1,000 likes n its first year and gaining traction on r/KneeSurgeryMemes and r/OddlySpecific.
Source: bluegrinchy
The next day, on October 25, 2022, it was reposted by Instagram user @grubburd, racking up 85,000 likes, helping push the image deeper into meme territory.
The Liberal Party of Australia posted a TikTok edit featuring the meme, a clear sign that the internet’s adults had noticed—and co-opted—it.
Source: kneeonsol
In a surprising twist, the official Dr. Seuss Instagram shared a blue-tinted Grinch (Jim Carrey’s version) during the 2024 holiday season, feeding meme fuel to its growing fandom.
Source: CatInHatFan
The Grinch Meme and A Crypto Coin
Much like the Dogecoin craze, the Blue Grinch Knee Surgery meme crossed into speculative finance in early 2025, spawning a knee-themed cryptocurrency.
Initially passed off as a joke, this meme-coin quickly gained attention, appearing in meme captions, TikTok comments, and even in fake investment pitches. Its rise highlighted the uncomfortable truth that even absurdist internet jokes are no longer safe from commercialization.
Source: GDTurniphead
Taylor Lorenz, reporting in her User Mag newsletter, observed: “Memes have always had value — they spread ideas, build communities, shape culture — but that value is no longer measured in cultural impact or virality, it’s measured in cryptocurrency.”
Despite—or because of—its ridiculousness, the coin briefly garnered attention from crypto circles before being written off by many as just another rug pull waiting to happen.
As with Dogecoin, meme culture crossed into finance. A knee-themed crypto coin emerged in early 2025, promoted in many Blue Grinch meme posts. While mostly seen as a joke, it highlighted how memes can quickly evolve into monetized assets.
Source: yomoma3456889
❓ FAQs about Blue Grinch Knee Surgery Meme
Q: Why is everyone saying “That feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow”?
A: It’s a meme catchphrase that emphasizes a weirdly specific emotional state. It’s absurd, ironic, and its randomness is the joke.
Q: What’s the Blue Grinch’s connection to this meme?
A: A surreal, smirking, blue-tinted Grinch image was used to exaggerate the already ridiculous phrase. The image makes it even more chaotic and meme-worthy.
Q: What’s with the crypto coin?
A: A meme-based crypto coin inspired by the Blue Grinch knee surgery joke emerged in 2025. It parodies the meme-to-marketplace trend, similar to Dogecoin’s legacy.
Source: AirToxicMist
Conclusion
The Blue Grinch Knee Surgery Meme started as a niche, oddly specific image macro, but evolved into a surreal monument of internet absurdity. Through years of ironic reposting, subreddit dedication, and TikTok spam, it went from a quiet joke to an internet fixture. But once political parties, major brands, and crypto coins got involved, its soul may have left the building.
Still, the blue Grinch smiles. His knee surgery is tomorrow. And for a moment, we all understood the joke—until the adults tried to make money off it.
