Wikiany

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat'

Saturday, 25/03/2023, 19:09 (GMT+7)

The story behind one of the most popular memes of 2019.

Perhaps many people on the internet don't know what the white cat Smudge in Canada is, until the mention of the famous meme "woman yelling at a cat" of 2019.

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 1
The white cat in this hit meme is named Smudge, currently living in Canada

One reason why this meme became so popular is due to its versatility, where you can use it in many different contexts.

You can use it to argue about the pronunciation of a word, to describe moments of drunkenness, or simply to express the effort of trying to do something but failing.

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 2
Thanos: What does that have to do with me?

This meme first appeared on the internet on May 1st, via the Twitter account @missingegirl

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 3
The start of one of the most popular memes of 2019

The actual origins of both images in this meme, however, have nothing to do with each other, and both have been circulating on the internet for a long time.

The story behind Smudge the Cat's expression

Smudge the Cat, currently living in Ontario, Canada, is a very timid cat. According to Smudge's owner, Miranda Stillabower, the cat will hide somewhere whenever someone comes over.

At other times, he will run up and demand attention from his owner, even insisting on having his own seat at the family's dining table.

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 4
Smudge the cat, currently living in Ontario, Canada, is a very shy cat.

Smudge will get mad if we don't make room for him. Sometimes when we have guests over, he will jump into their seat as soon as they get up," Stillabower shared in an interview.

Smudge is also a cat with a very expressive face, and in one meal, he showed his 'disgusted' attitude towards a plate of salad placed on the table.

This picture was immediately taken by his owner Stillabower and posted on her personal Tumblr page in June 2018.

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 5
Smudge has a very expressive face

Stillabower, like many other cat owners, has a habit of posting pictures of her cats on social media. However, for some unknown reason, this particular photo of Smudge caught the attention of many users on Tumblr, with thousands of reposts.

At that time, Stillabower did not know that it would be the beginning of Smudge's global fame.

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 6
The cat shows a 'disgusting' attitude to the salad plate on the dining table.

The woman "screaming at" Smudge, on the other hand, has nothing to do with the cat. She is actress Taylor Armstrong from the reality show "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" which debuted in 2011. At the time, she was going through a crisis period after divorcing her husband who was abusive to her.

After hearing a malicious housewife's comments about her failed marriage, Armstrong exploded and screamed in the face of the rude woman. And that's how the rest of the famous meme was born.

The quick fame that this meme brought to Smudge is something that Stillabower never expected when she posted the picture of this shy white cat on Tumblr in 2018. The number of notifications that Stillabower received every day was so overwhelming that it even caused her phone to freeze.

Meet the white cat Smudge gave rise to the viral meme 'woman yelling at a cat' 7
Currently, Smudge owns 1.4 million followers on Instagram, as well as becoming the face on many different consumer products.

"I think the reason why people love this meme so much is because of its flexibility. You can use this meme for any situation you can think of," Stillabower shared in an interview.

And of course, the fame of this meme turned Smudge into a star, perhaps the second most famous cat in the world after Grumpy Cat. Currently, Smudge has 1.4 million followers on Instagram and has become the face of many different consumer products.

Unfortunately, neither Smudge nor Taylor Armstrong has had the chance to meet in real life to recreate this iconic meme. However, owner Stillabower said that if Smudge is comfortable with going outside, she would try to contact Taylor Armstrong to arrange a meeting.

"If Smudge can take a commemorative photo with Ms. Armstrong, that would be really nice," Stillabower shared. "However, I will let Smudge decide if he wants to go out or not."