Skip to content
Know This Meme

Rickroll Meme

一句话直答

A Rickroll is the internet's longest-running bait-and-switch prank: you click a link expecting something else and get Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' instead. If someone says a link is 'definitely not a Rickroll', it is a Rickroll.

Rickrolling is a bait-and-switch prank where a link promises something interesting but opens Rick Astley's 1987 music video 'Never Gonna Give You Up' instead.

Type: bait-and-switchYear: 2007更新于 2026年9月27日

What does Rickroll mean?

To Rickroll someone is to trick them into clicking a link that claims to be something relevant — a news story, a download, "the actual video" — but instead opens Rick Astley's 1987 music video "Never Gonna Give You Up".

It is a bait-and-switch prank. The victim has been "rickrolled". The whole joke is the anticlimax: the buildup, the click, and then a cheesy 80s pop song you have definitely heard before.

Origin

  • 2007: The prank evolves from an earlier 4chan bait called "duckrolling" — links that led to a picture of a duck on wheels.
  • 2007, May: On the day of Grand Theft Auto IV's trailer launch, the trailer link on 4chan's video game board was swapped for the Astley video. The scale of the disappointment made it legendary.
  • 2008: Rickrolling goes mainstream — it appears in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and gets used by pranks inside universities and corporations.

Examples

  • Posting "leaked footage of the new console" in a group chat — link goes to the music video.
  • Hiding the link behind a URL shortener so the destination is invisible.
  • April Fools' articles that end with "and by the way: never gonna give you up".

Translation

  • Literal reading: a music video from 1987.
  • Actual meaning: "you got fooled, and the fact that you know exactly what this is makes it funnier." Part of the humor is that everyone recognizes it instantly.
  • Cross-language note: works globally without translation — the song's hook is recognizable across languages, and many countries localize the verb (e.g. 'кликнул и попал' style phrasing in Russian communities).

FAQ

Why Rick Astley?

"Never Gonna Give You Up" was chosen because the deadpan 80s sincerity contrasts perfectly with the hype of the bait link. The song itself is the punchline.

Is Rickrolling still a thing?

Yes — since roughly 2020 it has had a second life as a wholesome surprise rather than a prank (the singer himself has embraced it).

What is the difference between a Rickroll and duckrolling?

Duckrolling (a duck on wheels) was the 2006-era prototype; the Rickroll replaced the duck with the song and stuck.

Cluster

相关梗