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The 9 Funniest Memes Of 2017, Because We All Need One More Laugh

by Hannah Golden
Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Here it is, the end of an incredible year. This year has been one for the record books, and as an homage to the last 12 months, here are the nine funniest memes of 2017. While there were a lot of contenders, these are the ones to see one last time before the ball drops.

According to Google Trends, the top five searched memes of the year were Cash Me Outside, United Airlines, Elf on the Shelf, What In Tarnation, and Spongebob Mocking. There were also some downright amazing GIFs that got us through the year. Per Tenor, a meme and gif keyboard database site, the year's most popular memes were Cash Me Outside, Salt Bae, Roll Safe, and Trump Drawing. (This year, by the way, we were on average less positive and more negative, at least based on how we searched for and shared gifs.)

Specifically, there were some pretty hilarious Donald Trump memes this year, but we know that's not all that made us laugh until we cried. Because there were so many incredible memes and so little time, we pulled a compilation of the funniest memes you can't finish out 2017 without seeing one last time.

Biden & Obama Up To No Good

Right after the 2016 election, we all arguably needed a good laugh. The meme was from last year, but it still made Google's roundup for most searched tweets of the year, and we get it.

Cash Me Outside

If you don't know the name Danielle Bregoli — or the name Bhad Bhabie, for that matter — you'll know it now. (She might even threaten to fight you over it just for good measure.) Better known as the Cash Me Outside girl, 13-year-old Bregoli literally threatened to have a physical encounter with her mom on The Dr. Phil Show. But at least we've been given this blessing of a meme out of it.

United Airlines

Oh, United. You've certainly had a trying year. After the airline got major backlash for dragging a passenger off a flight, forcing two teen girls to change clothes before boarding and finding a live scorpion on a plane, I certainly wasn't the only dreading going to an airport. We can at least all have some much-needed catharsis over this meme.

Mocking Spongebob, AKA "Spongemock"

Thanks to the genius creatives who are responsible for Spongebob Squarepants, we can all look back at the year with these gems based on the 2012 show. Variations went big, but perhaps the most relatable of them all was the binge-watching reference.

Stephen Curry High Kick

After the Golden State Warriors' point guard Steph Curry nailed a three-point shot again the Cleveland Cavaliers, he had to, you know, celebrate a little. (With his feet. In the air.) The meme took off with a caption we can all relate to.

The Future Liberals Want

After a far-right Twitter user posted a photo of a woman wearing niqab (face covering) sitting next to a person in drag on the subway with the caption "This is the future liberals want," lots of people trolled it. And the results were hilarious.

The Floor Is

This meme trend emerged after a couple of users re-ignited the floor-is-lava/hot lava game from our childhoods. (My particular variation of choice was Lava Monster, but I digress.) Shout-out to this user for giving us all the words we didn't have for our dating problems.

Salt Bae

Who could let 2017 go by without giving one last standing ovation to Nusret Gökçe, the salt-sprinkling Turkish chef who captured all our hearts with his IDGAF sass.

Roll Safe

It all started with a 2016 BBC Three mini-series on YouTube called Hood Documentary. But the character Reece Simpson (played by actor Kayode Ewumi) would become famous for being known as the "Roll Safe" guy associated with justifying poor life choices.

Trump Drawing

This meme was based on a images photoshopped after a round of signing official memorandums and executive orders right after Trump took office. Some people, clearly not happy with their outcomes, had some fun with the visual collateral.

It's been said before the laughter is the best medicine, and memes seem to be a testament to that. If anything, it's apparent that people made lemonade out of the oh-so-many lemons 2017 threw our way. And that alone can give us all something to look forward to for 2018.