Title:
Ermahgerd
Meme Creator:
Unknown (Originally posted by Reddit user plantlife)
Media Creator:
Unknown (photo of Maggie Goldenberger)
Meme Creation Year:
2012
Media Year:
Unknown (late 1990s)
Height of Popularity:
2012
Era:
Golden Age of Memes
Platform:
Image Macro
Type:
Tags:
ermahgerd, berks, gersberms, goosebumps, books, reddit, image macro, broken english, lolspeak
History:
The "Ermahgerd" meme emerged from a vintage photograph that captured the internet's attention through its perfect blend of nostalgia and linguistic playfulness. The image features a young girl with pigtails, wearing a retainer, and displaying an expression of pure enthusiasm while holding Goosebumps books.
According to multiple sources, the meme's origin story begins with a 2012 discovery by 16-year-old Reddit user Jeff Davis, known as /u/xWavy, who was browsing publicly visible Facebook and Myspace photos (Daily Dot, 2025). The original photograph was taken in the late 1990s of 10- or 11-year-old Maggie Goldenberger during a playful dress-up session with friends, one of whom had posted it online where it remained accessible to the public.
On March 14, 2012, Davis posted the image to Reddit's /r/funny subreddit with the caption "Just a book owner's smile..." (Know Your Meme, 2012). An hour later, Reddit user plantlife linked to a Quickmeme version of the same photo with the caption "Gersberms / Mah fravrit berks," introducing the distinctive phonetic spelling that would define the meme (Huffington Post, 2012). The same day, Davis reposted the image to /r/AdviceAnimals where it earned 17,000 upvotes in two weeks (Daily Dot, 2025).
The meme's spread was remarkably rapid. On March 15, 2012, the image macro was submitted to Funnyjunk by user michellemc, receiving over 18,000 views in less than two weeks (Know Your Meme, 2012). The same day, it appeared on Memebase's Derp site with the title "Thurrrrr So Scurrrrry." YouTuber Berks Gerl uploaded a video titled "Mah Fravorit Berks!" featuring voiceover narration of the caption on March 16th, while Body Building forums member Wilsbrah posted the "Gersberms!" thread on March 19th.
The meme's linguistic innovation proved central to its appeal. The intentionally broken English, known as "Ermahgerd speak," replaced most vowels with "er" or "ah" and transformed common words into phonetic approximations (Dictionary.com, 2021). This speech pattern was supposedly inspired by South Park's character Shelly, and its immediacy captured the essence of someone speaking with orthodontic appliances.
Initially referred to as "Berks" after the original Goosebumps reference, the more generic term "Ermahgerd" surpassed it in search interest by May 2012 (Know Your Meme, 2012). The meme's versatility became apparent as users applied the format to countless variations, expanding beyond the original image to include animals with similar captions and eventually developing into a standalone textual expression.
The cultural impact was significant, spawning merchandise on platforms like Amazon and Etsy, and inspiring everything from Halloween costume guides to graffiti during Hurricane Irma in 2017 (Daily Dot, 2025). By 2012, Quickmeme featured over 4,000 unique Ermahgerd submissions, demonstrating the format's remarkable staying power.
Notes about the Creator/s:
Creator (Media):
Maggie Goldenberger was approximately 10 or 11 years old when the photograph was taken in the late 1990s during a playful dress-up session with friends. The image was taken as a joke, with Goldenberger later explaining to Vanity Fair that she was simply "messing around" and playing dress-up (Vanity Fair, 2015). At the time the meme went viral in 2012, Goldenberger was 23 years old and traveling in India, only learning about her internet fame when her mother contacted her after seeing confused posts from high school classmates.
Goldenberger has generally embraced her unexpected internet celebrity status with good humor, though she has noted that the experience taught her about privacy boundaries when personal information was shared without her consent. She has expressed hope that her fame might inspire young people to read more, turning an accidental meme into a positive message about literacy.
Creator (Meme):
While Reddit user /u/xWavy discovered and initially posted the photograph, the transformation into the "Ermahgerd" meme format is attributed to Reddit user plantlife, who created the distinctive caption "Gersberms / Mah fravrit berks" that established the meme's linguistic style. The collaborative nature of the meme's development reflects the organic, community-driven evolution typical of internet culture, where a single image can be transformed through collective creativity and linguistic innovation.
Notes about the years:
Media Creation Year (Unknown - late 1990s):
The original photograph was taken during the late 1990s when Maggie Goldenberger was approximately 10 or 11 years old. The exact date remains unknown, as it was a casual family photograph taken during childhood play rather than a formal or documented occasion.
Meme Creation Year (2012):
The transformation from family photograph to internet meme occurred on March 14, 2012, when Reddit user /u/xWavy posted the image to /r/funny, followed by plantlife's creation of the captioned version that established the meme format. This date marks the beginning of the image's viral spread across internet platforms.
Height of Popularity (2012):
The meme reached peak popularity during 2012, particularly in the months following its March debut. The rapid spread across multiple platforms—Reddit, Funnyjunk, YouTube, and various meme generators—occurred within days of the initial posting. By the end of 2012, "Ermahgerd" had become one of the year's most recognizable memes, with Quickmeme hosting thousands of variations and the term entering mainstream internet vocabulary.
Sources and additional information:
Daily Dot. (2025, March 20). Meme History: Ermahgerd. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.dailydot.com/video/meme-history-ermahgerd/
Dictionary.com. (2021, January 19). ermahgerd Meaning & Origin. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/ermahgerd/
Huffington Post. (2012). Ermahgerd: Popular Meme Originates On Reddit Thread, Spreads Across The Web. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ermahgerd-memes-origins_n_1724396
Know Your Meme. (2012). Ermahgerd. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ermahgerd
Vanity Fair. (2015). Ermahgerddon: The Untold Story of the Ermahgerd Girl. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from [Vanity Fair article referenced in other sources]