My Lawyer Has Advised Me Not To Finish This Joke

About

My Lawyer Has Advised Me Not To Finish This Joke, also known as My Lawyers Have Advised Me Not To Continue This Joke, is a catchphrase that is used as part of a bait-and-switch setup in memes when the joke is one that is racist or otherwise inappropriate and offensive. Since beginning to see usage in 2021, the phrase has seen increasing use in memes throughout the 2020s as it was adapted into video memes on TikTok in 2023.

Origin

One of the first examples of this phrase can be found on a meme from iFunny dating back to mid-2021. On August 30th, 2021, iFunny user 2shitposterclub2_2020^[1] uploaded an image from the Team Fortress 2 comic in which the characters Demoman and Soldier can be seen wearing shirts. While Demoman has a shirt stating that Soldier is his redneck, Soldier's shirt reads that his lawyer advised him to not continue the joke, earning over 3,300 likes in two years (shown below).

Spread

The phrase saw usage slowly increase over the following years, with it being slightly tweaked from its initial wording into different variations going into 2023. For example, on March 4th, 2023, iFunny user DirtyDan1603^[2] uploaded a My Body Is A Machine That Turns X Into Y meme using the newly updated version of the phrase, with the punchline of the meme being that he kills government agents, as opposed to the usual usage (shown below).

Later in 2023, the phrase found itself being used on TikTok in a variety of different ways. On June 26th, TikToker Chizzy2dizzy^[3] uploaded a TikTok in which they were wearing different colored shirts and signaling that each had power, giving Power Rangers vibes. After cycling through the red and blue ranger, the scene transition showed him wearing a white shirt, which would mean he would say White Power but instead swapped that out with the "Lawyer Advised Not To Finish The Joke" catchphrase, earning over 350,000 likes in four months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References