About r/ExplainTheJoke
In its own words:
Your friend sent you a meme and you don't get it? Random image has everyone laughing and you're too dense to understand? Verbal joke a friend said, and you wanna type it out and ask the internet what the punchline was? We've got you.
Community guide
r/ExplainTheJoke (#591, about 1.9 million subscribers) — Your friend sent you a meme and you don't get it? Random image has everyone laughing and you're too dense to understand? Verbal joke a friend said, and you wanna type it out and ask the internet what the punchline… A recent sample averaged 17 posts a day (~83% image, ~7% text, ~4% video). Its public rules include: Be excellent to each other; If text on a meme can easily be googled for the answer or it explains itself, it doesn't belong here; Low-effort posts/titles are not allowed.
What belongs here
Stay inside the room’s stated scope rather than adjacent fandoms or general off-topic dumps. Self-promotion and advertising are tightly limited—read those rules before linking your own channel, shop, or site. Low-effort memes or empty shitposts are commonly removed—add context that fits the room’s purpose. Recent samples are image-heavy; if you post media, make the title explain why it belongs here.
How it differs from lookalikes
The length of the public rule list is itself a signal: skim all of them once before assuming defaults from similar communities.
Practical pointers
Read the current sidebar/rules on Reddit before posting; rules can change. Avoid clickbait titles; say what the post actually is. Common flairs include: Solved.
The community was created on Nov 23, 2012, which makes it 13 years old. Since Nov 2, 2026, it has gained 2,849 subscribers (+0.15%). It sits just behind r/UKPersonalFinance (#590) and ahead of r/MemeEconomy (#592) in our ranking.
What sets r/ExplainTheJoke apart
Compared with other large communities, r/ExplainTheJoke leans heavily on images (83% of recent posts; the typical Top 100 subreddit sits at 22%). It is a discussion-heavy community, with about 58.3 comments per post over its lifetime versus a Top 100 median of 13.0. It is also one of the faster-growing big communities: its 0.98% gain since Sep 19, 2026 beats 90% of the Top 100.
Subscriber growth
Between Sep 19, 2026 and Nov 9, 2026, r/ExplainTheJoke grew from 1,846,756 to 1,864,937 subscribers (+18.2K, +0.98%). That is about 356 new members per day. The chart shows 10 weekly subscriber counts.
Top posts on r/ExplainTheJoke this week
This week’s highest-ranked posts, in Reddit’s own order (collected Nov 7, 2026).
- Why the dark Mr. Incredibles meme? I don't understantu/Emotional-Ear-6638 · Nov 4 · image
- Help?u/Emotional-Ear-6638 · Nov 5 · image
- I'm very confusedu/Emotional-Ear-6638 · Nov 5 · image
- Why are they embarrassed?u/secretalextomb64 · Nov 2 · gallery
- Michael Jackson comparison?u/sour_fox · Nov 1 · image
- What has GoT to do with RAMu/Almighty_016 · Nov 1 · image
- What is the unspoken fear?u/cutdbs · Nov 5 · video
- how was this failed?u/nobodywantstoparty · Nov 7 · image
- What mean with football? Plsu/gooblefrump · Nov 3 · image
- Why was the noble gas sentenced to death?u/The_dragon_slayer95 · Nov 7 · image
All-time top posts
The highest-ranked posts in the history of r/ExplainTheJoke, from 2024 to 2025, ranked by Reddit.
- Can u help?u/azimx · Jul 6, 2025 · image
- I honestly don’t understand this.u/Kale_Brecht · Nov 11, 2024 · image
- I don't get itu/theMan7_11 · Sep 23, 2025 · image
- What does this mean?u/Whimsical418 · Mar 8, 2025 · image
- Uhhhh..?u/Leen_2001 · Feb 27, 2025 · image
- Aren't they sameMay 31, 2025 · image
- what?u/ArmedTank · May 5, 2025 · image
- Anyone can explain it ? 🤔u/whokarez0_0 · Jun 5, 2025 · image
- i don’t get itu/360_bratXcX · May 1, 2025 · image
- What is going on here?u/Nordic_Smoque · Mar 9, 2025 · image
What r/ExplainTheJoke talks about
Looking at the titles of 94 recent posts (Oct 29–Nov 5), the words that come up most are “explain”, “mean”, “joke”, “meme” and “understand”. Other frequent themes are missing, confused, context, meaning, huh and dark. By format, 83% are images, 7% are text posts and 4% are videos.
Activity and best time to post
r/ExplainTheJoke gets about 17 new posts a day. The public archive holds 55,321 posts and 3,227,741 comments in total, about 58.3 comments per post.
Rules of r/ExplainTheJoke
The moderators of r/ExplainTheJoke list 12 rules. In short:
- Be excellent to each other
- If text on a meme can easily be googled for the answer or it explains itself, it doesn't belong here
- Low-effort posts/titles are not allowed
- Complaining about someone "not getting the joke"
- OP already understood the joke when they submitted it, or submitted it to multiple meme subreddits
- Post is not a joke
- Current events/celebrities/influencers should instead be posted to /r/OutOfTheLoop
- NSFW posts/comments must be tagged appropriately
- No sale threads, promotion, giveaways, assistance/fundraising requests, or self-advertisement
- Nothing related to self-harm or spreading personal information
How to join
Open reddit.com/r/ExplainTheJoke and press “Join”. Read the community rules in the sidebar before you post: every subreddit is run by its own volunteer moderators.
Frequently asked questions
How many subscribers does r/ExplainTheJoke have?
r/ExplainTheJoke has 1,864,937 subscribers (Nov 9, 2026), which makes it the #591 safe-for-work subreddit in the SubMouse ranking. It added 18,181 members between Sep 19, 2026 and Nov 9, 2026.
How old is r/ExplainTheJoke?
r/ExplainTheJoke was created on Nov 23, 2012, so it has been around for 13 years. The oldest post in the public archive is from Nov 24, 2012.
How active is r/ExplainTheJoke?
Moderately: r/ExplainTheJoke gets about 17 new posts a day (average of the last four weeks). Over its lifetime the archive counts 55,321 posts and 3,227,741 comments. In a sample of 94 recent posts we counted 81 different authors.
What is r/ExplainTheJoke about?
The community describes itself as: “Your friend sent you a meme and you don't get it? Random image has everyone laughing and you're too dense to understand? Verbal joke a friend said, and you wanna type it out and ask the internet what the punchline was? …” Recent post titles often mention explain, mean, joke, meme and understand. Most posts are images (83%).
Is r/ExplainTheJoke safe for work?
Yes. Reddit does not mark r/ExplainTheJoke as an 18+ (NSFW) community, and its own rules forbid NSFW content. SubMouse lists safe-for-work subreddits only.
How do I post on r/ExplainTheJoke?
Join the community on Reddit first, then use “Create post”. r/ExplainTheJoke accepts both text and link posts, with images, videos and galleries enabled. It has 12 posted rules, starting with: “Be excellent to each other”; “If text on a meme can easily be googled for the answer or it explains itself, it doesn't belong here”; “Low-effort posts/titles are not allowed”. Moderators remove posts that break the rules, so read them in the sidebar before posting.
Which communities are like r/ExplainTheJoke?
Communities with similar topics include r/PeterExplainsTheJoke (3.7M) and r/explainlikeimfive (23.7M).
Stats from public data (data updated Nov 9, 2026; activity, rules and archive totals via the Arctic Shift archive, Nov 6, 2026; top posts from Reddit’s public feeds). Point and comment counts are archive snapshots and can be lower than on Reddit today. SubMouse is an independent directory and is not affiliated with Reddit or the moderators of r/ExplainTheJoke.