I only recently found out why people sometimes comment “F” on Reddit threads. It comes from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014).
At one point, you walk up to a casket at a funeral and have to press F to pay respects to the fallen soldier.
As others on that Reddit thread said, I thought it had something to do with following a thread to get notifications. Just to prove how out of touch I am, it even has a Wikipedia page where the viral meme is described as iconic, but the authors of that page describe it well:
“Press F to pay respects” is an Internet meme that originated from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, a 2014 first-person shooter in Activision’s Call of Duty franchise. It originated as a set of instructions conveyed during an in-game quick time event at a funeral service. Widely mocked by critics and players due to its forced element of interactivity that was not perceived to be tastefully executed, the phrase would later become a notable Internet meme in its own right. It is sometimes used by Internet commenters to convey solidarity and sympathy, either sarcastic or sincere, in response to unfortunate events.
I never thought I’d be tagging a post with “Call of Duty” again, but here we are in 2025!
