This Is Fine

This Is Fine is a cartoon dog calmly sipping coffee while the room burns around him, saying “This is fine.” People send it when everything is falling apart and they’re pretending it isn’t: deadlines, exams, the news.

Known in the US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong

What it means

It’s denial played for laughs: the calmer the dog, the worse the fire. Sent about yourself, it says “I’m overwhelmed but coping”; sent about a shared situation, it says “we’re all in this burning room together”.

It’s gentle enough for work chats and group chats alike, which is part of why it’s everywhere. It reads as dark humour, not as a call for help, so a friend who is really struggling may need more than this meme.

Where it comes from

The panels come from a 2013 strip of KC Green’s webcomic Gunshow. The first two, the dog in the hat saying “This is fine”, spread on their own and became one of the internet’s best-known reactions.

How friends from other cultures read it

It’s well known in the US, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the drawing explains itself even to someone who has never seen it. In Chinese chats it’s familiar, though many people reach for a local equivalent, like a Panda Head captioned 没事，我很好 (“no problem, I’m fine”).

Korean has a brave face of its own for this, gwenchana (괜찮아), and Chinese the heroic gloom of Xue Hua Piao Piao.

How to reply

Join the dog: “same”, a second cup of coffee, or a Surprised Pikachu if the fire was predictable. If your friend sounds truly overwhelmed, ask how you can help.