“Absolute Units”: 53 Of The Most Impressive Pics Shared By This Online Group (New Pics)

If you’ve been online for more than a hot second, you know that regular units have become ancient history. In these modern times, tiny units aka smol animals capture the internet’s collective heart, and absolute units have basically become an integral part of cyberspace culture. But if the latter doesn’t ring a bell and you somehow missed how this adorable meme took the web by storm, this odd-sounding term refers to objects and animals that are round, hearty, and exceptionally out of proportion to their surroundings.

In fact, this phenomenon has even spawned a subreddit with the same name. Also titled ‘Lads that you’re in awe at the size of,’ the online community offers a variety of adorable and surprising pictures where critters and objects can’t even be compared to their peers. I mean, you wouldn’t believe how big some things can get! And we’re here to show you that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that — it only gives us more to love.

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Below, our team at Bored Panda has wrapped up the newest batch of some of the best posts from the group, so continue scrolling to check them all out! Be sure to upvote your favorites and let us know what you think in the comments.

Psst! For more similar content, look no further than our earlier pieces filled with the absolutest of the units here, here, and here.

#1 Freya Is Making Herself Known And Comfortable, All 900kg Of Her, By Lounging On Docked Boats

Image credits: EmmelieSironae

#2 Absolute Unit

Image credits: fourhourtarget

#3 The Head Size Difference Between A Man And A Cane Corso

Image credits: jokerlovesharleen

The online universe is fascinated by photos of absolute units. Whether it’s gigantic horses, chonky cats, or exceptionally huge plants, it’s hard to deny the inexplicable allure of this meme. And as netizens’ obsession with comically oversized items seems to be beyond anything at this point, let’s take a look at the origin of this amusing artifact, shall we?

The internet meme database Know Your Meme stated that the first absolute unit meme was born on December 13, 2017, when a Twitter user who went by the handle @mrreptoid wrote, “In awe at the size of this lad. Absolute unit,” with regards to a photo of British hotelier David Morgan-Hewitt standing next to the late Queen of England.

Although the tweet quickly caught on with many people using it widely to caption their own pictures, everything took off in 2018 when the Museum of English Rural Life tweeted a photograph of ram with the title: “Look at this absolute unit.” Adam Koszary, the museum’s program manager who submitted the tweet, gained over 98k likes and more than 27k retweets in the next couple of days.

Now, over 1.3 million members of the ‘Absolute Units’ community get to enjoy this adorable phenomenon daily.

#4 This Elephant Ears Plant At A Plant Store

Image credits: jargo1

#5 Garlic

Image credits: shrewd_badger

#6 Wolfdog From 2.5 Months To 2 Years

Image credits: AccomplishedTeabag

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But what makes this meme that pokes fun at objects that are comically and abnormally out of proportion to their surroundings so entertaining to us? To gain more insight on the topic from an expert, we reached out to Bradley E. Wiggins, Ph.D., an associate professor and department head of Media Communications at Webster Vienna Private University. Wiggins is a renowned author of The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture, and his research interests also include digital semiotics and strategic communication.

As Wiggins is about to give an invited keynote talk entitled Research Memes: Challenges, Pitfalls, and Opportunities at the Digital Research Data and Human Sciences (DRDHum) 2022 at the University of Jyväskylä, he was more than happy to share his thoughts on the matter.

#7 A Caleb Cluster Of Grapes

Image credits: Chonkbird

#8 1905 Log Cabin In Oregon

Image credits: KevlarYarmulke

#9 Big Lettuce

Image credits: g4mert0p

Professor Wiggins explained that the shape of the animal or object doesn’t really have much importance when it comes to the draw of the meme. “But the placement of the shape in contexts where it is reasonable to be surprised makes sense that it has become so memorable.”

“In other words, I think the point is really about a bit of surprise and delight together with some sense of familiarity with the content that makes it so memorable,” he told Bored Panda.

#10 This Cat

Image credits: gunnergio14

#11 Zeus Is An Absolute Unit Horse

Image credits: SuffrnSuccotash

#12 Aerial Photography Camera Used During WWII

Image credits: KevlarYarmulke

Interestingly, while many of us perceive the absolute unit as a common internet joke, Wiggins explained this is not the correct term to use in this scenario. And to those of you reading this article right now and scratching your head from confusion, the professor explained that a meme and a joke aren’t the same thing.

It turns out that structurally, they are closely related, but there’s a slight disparity that internet aficionados should be aware of. “One chief difference is the visual component offered by the meme,” Wiggins said.

“The visual component gives context and meaning to the viewer, and the viewer’s job is to laugh at it or be otherwise triggered (positively or negatively) and this can cause sharing, re-posting, etc. The choice to do this may be rooted in the desire to connect with others in impersonal ways. This is what social media, ironically, has taught us all to do, rather well actually.”

#13 The Size Of The Lockheed C5 Galaxy Compared To Other Military Planes

Image credits: Appropriate-Equal-43

#14 My Crow Friend, Who Comes Visits Me Daily

Image credits: AnonymousAggregator

#15 Absolute Unit Paws On This Kitty… Extra Toe Beans!

Image credits: someone_somewear

Moreover, it’s easy to be amused by something we wouldn’t otherwise see in our daily lives. “Encountering the absolute unit meme, or perhaps memes like it, online means some degree of ‘taking us out of the ordinary’, but it also suggests a longing, perhaps even a kind of yearning for something new to laugh about,” Wiggins added. “Again, this may well be a side effect of social media.”

#16 The Beast’s Doors Are In Their Own Class

Image credits: Inqubate

#17 This Massive Owl

Image credits: Congodreadin

#18 A Cottonmouth Spotted In South Georgia. Ole Thing Hasn’t Skipped A Single Gravy Covered Biscuit Since The Day It Hatched

Image credits: Turquoise_Lion

This can even tell a few things about us as human beings. After all, memes are known as the perfect attention trap that captures our attention and doesn’t let it go. Feeling sick and tired of the people and the world around us, we often seek these tightly packaged chunks of information to find relief and unwind from our daily troubles.

Professor Wiggins explained that when we succumb to the mindless scroll and look at our screens endlessly, whether standing in queues, waiting for appointments, or simply having nothing else to do, “we become transfixed by content that is largely designed for attention-grabbing and retention.”

#19 Felt Like This Was A Unit Of A Water Lily

Image credits: promptlyHollow

#20 Absolute Units Of Bolts

Image credits: Ok-Entry9268

#21 18 Year Old Mike Tyson’s Neck

Image credits: berrygay

“It makes sense that we go back again and again, seeking what we may never really know,” he added. “The absolute unit meme is a moment, a flicker, a spark that starts and stops almost immediately. Yet you can experience this spark again and again and again. It’s liminal.”

“That means it situates you between a ‘now’ state and a ‘then’ state, it’s somewhere in between, like a wedding or graduation ceremony, they only exist because something ended and something else will start, but hasn’t yet. But social media allows the liminal to become nearly permanent,” Wiggins concluded.

#22 There’s No Point In Playing Dead If You Meet This Absolute Unit

Image credits: Kate_4_President

#23 Chonky Carp

Image credits: sytrus_2008

#24 Cardon Cactus In Mexico, 1890s. Absolute Unit At 8 Meters (26 Feet) And Weighing 10 Metric Tons (Over 22,000lbs)!

Image credits: gabbykitcat

#25 Absolute Unit Of A Gumball Machine (My 5’6″ Shy 13 Year Old Son For Scale)

Image credits: Red-Chief-420

#26 Before Chainsaws This Was The Length Of The Two-Man Hand Saw And Heavy Duty Axes That They Used To Drop These Tremendous Trees

Image credits: ShAd0vv_kill

#27 This Unit Of A Caterpillar

“This dude does not want to pupate. I think he’s enjoying being a caterpillar too much. All he wants to do is eat and he’s gotten enormous.”

Image credits: iuseredditforpOrn000

#28 This Cat’s Arm Size

Image credits: johnloc97

#29 Does This Belong Here? Lemon From My Parents Lemon Tree

Image credits: amelia_egghart217

#30 The Size Of The Original Big Mac

Image credits: Mr-Fahrenheit_451

#31 Absolute Unit Of A Horse – 3200 Lbs

Image credits: Justtakeitaway

#32 Bugatti Tyre Next To Normal Car Tyre

Image credits: IceCoolTea

#33 Absolute Unit King Penguin Chick

Image credits: _DeLEON

#34 This Titan Of A Tiger

Image credits: pitvoeruk

#35 The Size Of This Car

Image credits: tylernewcomb_

#36 A Vietnamese Guy With His African Bullfrogs

Image credits: eddiecool123

#37 This Dude’s Squeegee At Illinois State University

Image credits: Campingcam

#38 This Case Of Beer

Image credits: Shazbot_2017

#39 The Heart Of A Blue Whale

Image credits: SpinalMyrtales49

#40 U.S. Cavalry Soldiers Pose In Front Of A Tree Known As The “Grizzly Giant” 1900. That’s A Big Tree

Image credits: gabbykitcat

#41 This Straaaaaawberry I Saw In The Store

Image credits: Darry__Lavid

#42 The Black Crack, A 65-Foot-Deep Fissure Along A Trail In Canyonlands National Park In Utah

Image credits: j3ffr33d0m

#43 I Got To See This Monster In Iceland. What An Absolute Unit!

Image credits: gulasch_man

#44 Statue Of Unity In India (Biggest Statue In The World)

Image credits: Big_James993

#45 Monster Morel

Image credits: sarbanharble

#46 This Carrot

Image credits: atkinsoncjedi

#47 Absolute Unit Of Communications Wiring Bundle

Image credits: Nruggia

#48 I See Your Absoluteunit Of A Dandelion And Raise You The Absolutest Of The Dandelion Units

Image credits: Gluten_maximus

#49 Bariatric Toilet At My Job. Size 9 Female Foot For Comparison

Image credits: Melibee33

#50 Apparently My Thumb May Be An Absolute Unit?

Image credits: Tge287

#51 This MMA Fighter

Image credits: tenghu

#52 14 Year Old, 6’1″, 300lb Football Recruit Tyler Parker

Image credits: Aquaman911

#53 This Man From 1911 Running For Sheriff

Image credits: atmatthews

#54 Arnold Schwarzenegger During His College Years (1979)

#55 This Absolute Unit Of A Dutch Giant, Oliver Richters

Source: boredpanda.com

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