Where it sits
Tfw only works if the reader has been there too. It's an invitation to recognise yourself.
Tell it apart
| Aspect | Tfw | Mfw |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | That feeling when | My face when |
| Focus | A shared feeling | My reaction |
| Usually paired with | A relatable image | A reaction face |
Tfw describes a feeling the reader is invited to share. Mfw (my face when) shows the writer's own reaction, usually with a picture of a face.
What it really means
Tfw names a situation and leaves you to supply the feeling. "Tfw the bus pulls away just as you reach the stop": no adjective needed. If you've been there, you already know.
It began, grammatically awkward, on 4chan. The original phrase was "that feel when", using "feel" as a noun. Know Your Meme finds it in a thread from September 2010, and Dictionary.com confirms the phrase existed by then. In early 2011 it was paired with a simple drawing known as That Feel Guy, and from 2012, Dictionary.com says, the abbreviation began to spread well beyond the site.
Its best-known early form was a lonely one, "that feel when no gf", which Know Your Meme documents from that 2010 thread. But the structure was too useful to stay sad. Tfw became a frame for any relatable moment: finding money in an old coat, a jigsaw with one piece missing.
Today it feels a little dated, a relic of the image-macro years. The idea it carried hasn't dated at all, though. Most of the internet's best jokes still work the same way: name the situation, trust the reader.
Where it comes from
that
feel / feeling
when
The original "that feel when" used "feel" as a noun, a non-standard use that many people now tidy into "feeling".
- 23 September 2010
"That feel when" appears in a 4chan thread (Know Your Meme); Dictionary.com dates the phrase to at least 2010.
- Early 2011
The phrase is linked with a simple drawing known as That Feel Guy (Dictionary.com; Know Your Meme).
- 2012
Tfw begins to rise in popularity, according to Dictionary.com.
In real life
- Text: "tfw you find a fiver in last winter's coat"
- Text: "tfw the bus pulls away just as you reach the stop"
- Text: "tfw you finally finish the jigsaw and one piece is missing"
Questions
Q01What does tfw mean?
"That feeling when." It introduces a situation everyone recognises, such as "tfw the bus pulls away as you reach the stop", and leaves the feeling unnamed.
Q02Where did tfw come from?
From 4chan. Know Your Meme finds "that feel when" in a thread from September 2010; it was soon paired with a simple drawing called That Feel Guy, and Dictionary.com says tfw took off in 2012.
Q03Why "feel" instead of "feeling"?
The original phrase used "feel" as a noun, a non-standard use that stuck. Many people now read it as "that feeling when".