‘Spanish or vanish’: The 25 best Duolingo jokes, memes, and interactions on the app

August 13, 2024

Duolingo is a ubiquitous tool for language learning these days. It’s also become a source of endless laughter thanks to its pushy mascot, Duo, the Owl. Duo encourages language learners to get the job done, sometimes being a little aggressive in his approach.

Sometimes, Duo uses guilt to get you to realize just how important practicing your language of choice is. If you wait until the end of the day, Duo will be there glaring as the clock ticks toward midnight. With millions of users, there are a lot of people who are familiar with and find humor in Duolingo’s mischievous ways.

In fact, Duo has inspired countless parody accounts across social media that embrace the Duolingo jokes, Duolingo memes, and the insanity that is constant reminders to practice and advance.

From the ever-so-slightly forceful reminders to emphasizing the importance of consistent learning, Duo’s been known to line step. His demeanor has made for some amazing Duolingo memes. Here are some of the best Duolingo memes and jokes.

1. Duolingo’s parody Twitter had the internet in a chokehold

x user tweets "Styxyx @styxyx_2d
unpopular opinion: the duolingo bird is the most forced meme of 2019," to which duolingo replies, "Buddy, the only thing thats gonna be forced is my way into your house" — @OttoKari/Reddit

2. Oh, you’re giving up your streak? This is fine…

duo sitting in a fire saying "save your streak" — u/YerRedditKing/Reddit

3. There are two choices.

parody duolingo account tweeting "it's simple, spanish or vanish" — @duolingous/X

4. Duo is dedicated to getting to you …

tumblr text that reads "My goal in life? Me and my girlfriend are on holiday somewhere where they speak Spanish. We're at a restaurant. The server comes up to us to ask us what we want to order. I speak to the waiter. My Spanish is flawless. My girlfriend looks at me in awe. We don't end up eating dinner bc we go back to the hotel where she fucks me senseless, the end," to which someone responds, "Wow, the people at duolingo are really getting more creative with their ads — @seasammy/Tumblr

5. … and if he doesn’t, it can be a problem.

notifications that include a duolingo reminder about an italian lesson and a text from dad that says the mafia is at their house — @UniqueUsername_420/Reddit

6. But really, Duo seems innocent.

duolingo bird crying with caption "When the internet makes you into a psychopathic murderer even though you were only trying to help them speak more languages" — @AgniK4i/Reddit

7. After all, it’s the app driving the bird, not the bird driving the app.

duolingo's response to misgendering water being "you're not just wrong, you're stupid" — Universal Pictures

8. Even celebrities can’t resist a good Duolingo joke.

duolingo exercise that says "i am easy" in french, with Zooey Deschanel tweeting, "Duolingo, how dare you!" — @ZooeyDeschanel/X

9. You wouldn’t want to scare him, would you?

duolingo notification that reads "i'm afraid of people who skip their lessons, do one now" — u/Icy_Platform341/Reddit

10. Achieving is really rewarding.

duolingo family visitation meme — u/The_Meme-Connoisseur/Reddit

11. And Duo makes sure you feel it when you don’t.

"2 more failed lessons and your family goes missing" duolingo meme — u/Ikbenfelix/Reddit

12. Come on, babe.

duolingo notification that says "what's wrong babe? you haven't done greek in 3 days, can we fix this?" — u/AnxietyDrivenWriter/Reddit

13. No one should have to beg.

duolingo meme in "pulp fiction" scene — u/GaySauceMichaelHere/Reddit

14. There’s even sass within the learning itself.

dutch sentence on duolingo that translates to "I am selling my mother-in-law for a euro" — @noaaavocado/X

15. There’s something about building a skill…

Julie and Julia clip that says "gosh, i thought i was speaking french to you" with caption "after two days on duolingo" — @Remember_Sarah/X

16. Duo is truly everywhere.

duo owl lookalike on an ad for train conductor jobs, with caption "heads up guys, duo's hiring assassins" — u/domben12/Reddit

17. Duo wants to know you think he’s special.

duo giving duo a medal with the caption "duo you are the most beautiful owl" — u/ankit_dey/Reddit

18. Once you do, you’ll panic when you forget about practicing.

heartbeat meme with caption "when you miss your spanish lesson" — u/Honseye/Reddit

19. Don’t let anyone dissuade you from multilingual greatness.

duolingo meme about "is anybody on the plane a doctor" — u/AxelFuso/Reddit

20. Duo can take you anywhere (or follow you anywhere).

21. Like, anywhere.

tweet that reads "[halloween party] my friends: haha look outside the window! someone came dressed as the duolingo owl lmao . super realistic costume too

me, a week behind on my norwegian course: oh god no. lock the fucking doors" — @mcguffiejake/X

22. Duolingo is life.

meme that read "when you get a duolingo notification," then says, "current objective-survive" — u/Honseye/Reddit

23. Once you’re on top of your game, you won’t want to stop.

parking car after losing duolingo streak — u/GreenAppleCZ/Reddit

24. Trolls will troll…

real owl with caption "15 minutes a day can teach you a language, what can 15 minutes of social media do?" with "memes" superimposed — u/Riddimshocker/Reddit

25. …but when you can use your new language, you’ll have Duolingo to thank.

leonardo dicaprio pointing meme with caption ""When you're watching anime and hear a character say something that u completely understand bc u just learned it on duolingo" — u/DragonTamer69420/Reddit

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