Look between your keyboard letters and decode this viral trend

There’s a new trending meme in town that’s leaving netizens confused. The meme that says “look between X and Y on your keyboard” has taken social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) by storm, with users swapping ‘X’ and ‘Y’ with letters like ‘H’ and ‘L’. What does the meme mean, and why is everyone, from netizens, to popular brands, and the police joining the bandwagon? Here’s taking a look.

When someone asks you to look between ‘X’ and ‘Y’ on your keyboard, there's nothing inherently special there.So, the humour lies in the user setting up an expectation – perhaps a shocking revelation or hidden message – before playfully subverting it. Sometimes, the meaning might be relevant, like "JK" (just kidding) when the meme asks you to “look between H and L”.



The now viral meme can be traced back to early 2021, when an anonymous image-based bulletin board that lets anyone post comment and share images, shared a meme related to K-On! anime. The caption read - "look between T and O on your keyboard". The letters were Y, U and I, spelled "YUI" - initials of Yui Hirasawa, the main character of K-On!

Fast forward to 2024, social media users beyond the anime world, started sharing their own, hilarious versions after the original meme started doing its rounds on X. From Tinder, to Swiggy, to YouTube, many have come up with their own variations of the meme.