rickroll
verb / noun · 2007 → now, somehow
also seen as: rickrolled, never gonna give you up
the short answer
The bait-and-switch prank of disguising a link that leads to Rick Astley's 1987 hit — the only 2007 meme still fully operational.
WHAT IT MEANS
A rickroll is the internet's most honored prank: promising a link to one thing — leaked footage, concert tickets, the document your boss asked for — and delivering Rick Astley's 1987 single “Never Gonna Give You Up” instead. The victim has been rickrolled; the prankster has upheld a two-decade tradition; Rick, somewhere, earns another fraction of a cent.
The form has proven infinitely adaptable: QR codes, meeting slides, wedding programs, exam answer keys, and at least one high-altitude balloon have all delivered the payload. The rules are unwritten but universal — the reveal must be a surprise, and the victim must, on some level, respect it.
WHERE IT CAME FROM
It evolved on 4chan in 2007 from the “duckroll” (an earlier bait-and-switch involving a duck on wheels), when a link claiming to be a Grand Theft Auto IV trailer delivered the Astley video instead. The prank's name followed the pattern, and the format detonated: by April Fools' 2008, YouTube redirected its entire front page to the video.
What makes rickroll historically unique is that it never died. Every other 2007 meme is a museum piece; the rickroll remains fully operational two decades on — institutions, sports teams, and governments have all deployed it, and Astley himself has embraced the second career with visible delight, occasionally rickrolling audiences in person, which may be the most graceful relationship any human has ever had with their own meme.
HOW TO USE IT
“Final grades posted here” → a man in a trench coat begins to dance
Correct — institutional deployment. The registrar understood the assignment.
Hiding it on slide 34 of the quarterly deck, where only the diligent are struck.
Correct — precision rickrolling rewards exactly the wrong people. Beautiful.
Labeling the link “definitely not a rickroll.”
Incorrect — announced bait collapses the art. The surprise is load-bearing.
Getting rickrolled, sighing, and watching the whole video anyway.
Advanced — the honorable surrender. It is, and this is the secret, a genuinely great song.
VIBE CHECK: IS IT STILL COOL?
Certified — the only meme with 2007 plates still street-legal, and at this point it's protected heritage. Getting rickrolled in 2026 is less a prank than a blessing from the elders. Never gonna give it up, apparently. Nobody is.
Status: ✅ CERTIFIED — established, safe to use. Last reviewed August 2026.
words that travel in the same pack
PUT IT ON A MEME
Knowing the word is step one. Step two is the meme lab — caption it, export it, send it. Or go back to the dictionary and keep studying. The vocabulary test is your entire future online.