We all found it creepy in our childhood.
It looks like cheap, pipe cleaner–like a toy that you got at a carnival or in a birthday party loot bag once. The brand name is Squirmles, but the internet has dubbed it “worm on a string.”
The whole contraption is just a worm with a pair of googly eyes and a string attached, so you would feel like it’s squirming around. They come in five colors, cost a few bucks, and have been around for decades.
They’re so simple and frivolously silly that they’ve become the reason for meme Gen Z can’t get enough of.
Worm on a string has been a recurring meme since 2016, according to Know Your Meme, but Google Trends shows its virality is now at an all-time high.
Worm on a string is also a versatile meme, with the primary emotion being adoration for the wee critter.
You can take any other meme and add in worm on a string. Worm on a string has been remixed by illustrators. There’s truly nothing worm on a string cannot do.
Some people are making the meme even a business. Karli Taylor, a 19-year-old student from Arizona, turns the worms into earrings and sells them on Etsy.
She first encountered worm on a string when she was 10 and fell in love after finding them on Amazon recently.
“I’m not entirely sure why they got so popular so quickly again! They’re just a cute, colorful friend with googly eyes. Who wouldn’t want that?” she told BuzzFeed News.
Even her friends buy them in bulk and gift her. She started her earring business as just a silly idea, but she sold seven pairs pretty quickly. After her TikToks blew up too, she made the Etsy page and made six more sales on her first day.
“It’s truly just a worm renaissance living in 2019,” she said.
On TikTok, worm szn is in full swing. People are people making giant versions, for example.
Worm on a string is just the sort of friend you need in 2019.
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