Hide the Pain Harold Meme Generator
Drag text anywhere on the Hide the Pain Harold template, style every box its own way, drop in your own images, then download, copy, or share it.
Click a text box to edit it. Drag to move, corners resize, top handle rotates.
What is the Hide the Pain Harold meme?
Hide the Pain Harold is a stock photo of a white-haired, white-bearded older man in a checked shirt, sitting at a glass desk with a laptop and holding up a pale pink mug. He is smiling broadly for the camera, but his eyes look strained and tired, as if the smile is the only thing holding him together. The gap between that cheerful office-stock-photo pose and the obvious discomfort in his face is the entire joke. He is the patron saint of pretending things are fine: smiling through bad news, awkward moments and situations where showing your real feelings is not an option.
Origin: The photos are stock images of Hungarian retired engineer András Arató, who modeled for a photographer and ended up in a series of everyday stock shots. Forum users started noticing his pained smile around 2011, nicknamed him Harold, and he later spoke publicly about accepting his role as a meme.
Also known as: Harold, Maurice, Pained Smile Old Man.
How to use the Hide the Pain Harold meme
The top box sets up a moment of pain or awkwardness, usually "when" plus a situation you cannot complain about. The bottom box completes it with the detail that makes it hurt, or with what Harold says while smiling through it.
It is strongest when the pain is socially hidden: a boss reading your screen, a gift you dislike, a group project, back pain at a family photo shoot. Keep the tone bittersweet rather than dark.
Hide the Pain Harold meme ideas
- when the boss sees / your meme tab
- "I love the sweater, grandma" / it's itchy and three sizes too big
- me saying "no worries" / while panicking about the deadline
- when your team is down 4-0 / and you're still cheering
- when the group project grade / goes to everyone equally
- "yes, I read the terms of service" / (blank)
About the Hide the Pain Harold meme template
The Hide the Pain Harold template (harold) supports 2 lines of text. A classic example reads “when the boss sees / your meme tab”. Read about its origin on knowyourmeme.com.
Use it from the API
This meme is also just a URL. Replace the text in the path to generate your own image:
https://memegenscript.com/images/harold/when_the_boss_sees/your_meme_tab.pngCharacters in this meme
Download the character as a transparent PNG to use anywhere.
