copypasta
/ˈkɒpi.pɑːstə/
CommonA block of text that gets copy-pasted repeatedly across forums and social media, usually as a joke or reaction.
Can be affectionate, ironic, or obnoxious depending on context. Famous copypastas take on a life of their own as internet artifacts.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | someone dropped the navy seal copypasta in a discord and the whole server lost it | Pasting the famous ironic rant caused a big reaction in the chat. | reddit, 2023 |
| 02 | this comment section is just copypasta at this point | Everyone in the thread is posting the same repeated text and there is no original content. | youtube, 2022 |
| 03 | i've read this copypasta so many times i have it memorized | The text appears so often that the person knows it by heart. | reddit, 2024 |
| 04 | bro sent a copypasta as his actual argument. not reading all that | Someone tried to pass off a piece of recycled internet text as a genuine point. | x, 2023 |
Use it when
- A block of text is being repeated across many different posts or platforms.
- Someone pastes a well-known ironic or absurdist text as a reaction.
- Referencing a famous piece of internet text culture.
Do not use it when
- Someone just copies and pastes a single relevant quote once.
Copypasta vs shitpost
copypasta
Copypasta is specifically a repeated block of text that circulates across many contexts.
VS
shitpost
Shitpost is any absurd or low-effort post, not necessarily recycled text.
Origin and context
Blend of 'copy-paste' and 'pasta'. Emerged from 4chan in the mid-2000s to describe text blocks that get recycled across threads. The word plays on the Italian food name to make it feel disposable and repeatable.
- First seen
- mid-2000s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/copypastaUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0