Godwin's law meme
✓ Brand-safe. The meme is a well-known internet proverb and does not inherently carry political, sexual, violent, tragic, or hateful associations.
What does the Godwin's law meme mean?
Godwin's law is an internet proverb stating that as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
Where did Godwin's law come from?
Godwin's law (or Godwin's rule), short for Godwin's law of Nazi analogies, is an Internet proverb asserting: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." The law's creator, Mike Godwin, maintains these comparisons often trivialize the Holocaust. It is an example of the reductio ad Hitlerum fallacy.
Is the Godwin's law meme dead?
Less than it was. Godwin's law is fading: its rate of reads of its Wikipedia article has slowed by more than 15% compared with the period before. Its current rate is 1% of its peak, which came in the period ending Jun 1, 2016.
The Wikipedia article on Godwin's law was read 298 times in November 2026, and 6,655,509 times since July 2015. Its busiest measured month ended Jun 1, 2016 at 8,159 reads per day.
Stats
| Busiest month | May 2016 (252,930 reads) |
| Reads, last 12 months | 158,930 |
| Reads, 12 months before | 255,138 |
| Change year on year | -38% |
| All-time reads since July 2015 | 6,655,509 |
| Current rate vs peak | 1% of the peak in the period ending Jun 1, 2016 |
Godwin's law on YouTube
8 YouTube videos using this meme have 88,853 views between them, 5 of them Shorts. View counts are re-read weekly. Video meme rankings.
The Nazis, Hitler, The Internet, and Godwin's Law
Short Have You Ever Heard of Godwin’s Law? #ai #godwinslaw #aihistory #artificialintelligence #m
WHD.usa 2017 Day 2 Welcome Speech: What Do You Meme? Godwin’s Law vs. The Streisand Effec
Short Godwin's Law
Short Ad hom and Godwin's law: two misused memes
Short Godwin's LawGodwin's law captions for businesses
| real estate | Our listings are so good / The probability of you finding a better deal approaches zero. |
| dentists | The longer you put off a check-up / The probability of needing a root canal approaches one. |
| restaurants | The longer you look at our menu / The probability of ordering everything approaches one. |
| fitness studios | The longer you ignore your fitness goals / The probability of regretting it approaches one. |
| software startups | The longer you wait to try our new software / The probability of your competitors getting ahead approaches one. |
| coffee shops | The longer you resist our coffee / The probability of needing a caffeine fix approaches one. |
| hair salons | The longer you delay your haircut / The probability of a bad hair day approaches one. |
| accountants | The longer you put off your taxes / The probability of a panic attack approaches one. |
Riffs on Godwin's law
| Monday mornings | The meeting isn't even over yet / and someone already compared my Monday mood to a war criminal. |
| working from home | My coworkers debating if a camera is 'on' or 'off' / eventually devolves into who's more like a totalitarian regime. |
| the gym | Someone complaining about the squat rack / will inevitably compare the wait to a dystopian nightmare. |
| coffee | Debating the merits of espresso vs. drip / always ends with someone calling the other side a tyrannical regime. |
| holidays with family | Talking about who ate the last slice of pie / always leads to someone being accused of a genocidal act against dessert. |
| online shopping | Arguing about shipping costs / quickly escalates to accusations of economic oppression. |
| taxes | Discussing tax brackets / always results in someone feeling like they're living under a despotic ruler. |
| group chats | Three messages in about dinner plans / and someone already declared the chat leader a dictator. |
| sports fans | Debating a referee's call / inevitably ends with one team's fans comparing the other to a totalitarian state. |
| school and exams | Complaining about a pop quiz / always devolves into comparing the teacher to a tyrannical overlord. |
| dating apps | After three bad swipes / I'm pretty sure I just compared my dating pool to a gulag. |
| cooking at home | Debating the correct way to chop an onion / always leads to someone being labeled a culinary oppressor. |
More questions
Can a business post the Godwin's law meme?
Usually, yes. The meme is a well-known internet proverb and does not inherently carry political, sexual, violent, tragic, or hateful associations. memeidea's brand-safety calls are AI-assisted suggestions, so check how the format is being used this week before posting.
What is a good Godwin's law caption for a business?
For real estate: “Our listings are so good / The probability of you finding a better deal approaches zero.”. For dentists: “The longer you put off a check-up / The probability of needing a root canal approaches one.”. For restaurants: “The longer you look at our menu / The probability of ordering everything approaches one.”. More captions are in the table above.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Godwin's law: article and page-view counts (Wikimedia API)
- Know Your Meme: origin and spread
- YouTube: video and Shorts view counts
- memeidea method: how stages and momentum are measured