About

Nothing Ever Happens is a catchphrase and mantra commonly said on 4chan’s board /pol/ to signify that no major global events of significant magnitude have perceivably happened in past decades, nor will they happen in the future. The mantra is the direct opposite of It's Happening memes and has often been used in response to anticipated global changes not happening.

Origin

The phrase “nothing ever happens” has been used on 4chan’s /pol/ board since at least as early as July 2014. For example, on July 26th, 2014, an anonymous /pol/[1] user wrote “Nothing ever happens in this shit, I can't take it anymore, please god make something happen this world is boring as fuck" (post shown below, left). On April 4th, 2015, another user wrote[2] "you guys are right nothing ever happens" in a post in which they complained about Russia not blowing up a volcano (shown below, right).

Spread

In the following years, the phrase achieved prominence as a catchphrase, being used as a response to both an apparent lack of major historical events in the past decades and any expected events not taking place, serving as the polar opposite of It's Happening posts. On September 8th, 2017, an anonymous /pol/[3] user posted a reaction image reading "Daily reminder: nothing ever happens" (shown below, left). On April 22nd, 2021, an anonymous user[4] made a post titled "Every single happening has been CANCELLED," listing major events such as Jeffrey Epstein's death, the COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2020 George Floyd Protests that did not result in any significant changes.

The catchphrase inspired reaction images and other content as it continued to spread online. For example, on March 2nd, 2022, an anonymous user posted a Chudjak GIF that saw further spread on the /pol/[5] board and beyond in the following year (shown below).

In addition to 4chan, the catchphrase also saw spread on Twitter. For example, on March 29th, 2023, Twitter[6] user @IWillNameThem posted a The Breakfast Question meme using the phrase (shown below, left). On June 24th, 2023, following the unsuccessful rebellion attempt by the Wagner Group, Twitter[7]user @AltHistCody made a tweet using the phrase that received over 230 retweets and 6,200 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).