Memes don't always hit right away, and if the summer 2017 tells us anything, it's that sometimes it takes a few months for things to really get cooking. Most of the memes that made up the Internet landscape of the past three months began circulating before the summer. It's all about giving them time to hit the right chord.

When putting together this list of the top 10 memes of summer, there were some obvious choices, but we're not here to pick our favorite memes, we're here to pick the top ones. This isn't an opinion piece, or at least, it's not intended to be. So before the comment boards light up with calls of "normies" and "not dank" and "this list is my own waking nightmare and, perhaps, that says a lot about me," be sure to check out the methodology section below.

However, there were some meme events that we'd be remiss not to mention. Right in Front of My Salad had a strong showing for about a week, despite it's very NSFW content. However, it's quick drop off could be attributed to the sudden rise of Distracted Boyfriend. To that same token, Powder That Makes You Say Yes also had a strong run, which continues to pay off dividends, but it might've been a tad to strange for regular viewers. Finally, of all people, Jake Paul seemed to set off an Internet firestorm with every mention of his name. However, few things he did overcame the immense popularity of "England Is My City." All fought a valiant fight, but could not crack the top 10.

So, without further adieu (*trumpet sounds*), we present the top 10 memes of Summer 2017.

10) Buenos Dias Mandy
KYM Score: 310,000 | Google Search Interest: 10/ 10 | Google Search Volume: 416,000

The most unlikely memes seem to come from the strangest sources. Surely, this is the only entry on this list that's based on a pornographic version of a children's television series in which one character sexually harasses another, right? You bet! Buenos Dias Mandy is a web comic that takes a crudely adaptation of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy that set a template for shitposts, videos, parodies and so much more. A veritable jungle-gym of meme fun, "Buenos Dias Mandy received a score of 310,549, thanks to a slew of remixes and variations that are still pouring in. Buenos Dias, indeed.

9) Crash Bandicoot "Woah"
KYM Score: 663,850 | Google Search Interest: 9/ 10 | Google Search Volume: 416,000

Bubbling under the deep sea of video game nostalgia was a catchphrase from a forgotten hero. The sweet sounds of Crash Bandicoot, the former PlayStation mascot–and Sonic the Hedgehog stand-in--saying "Whoa" filled the summer air in 2017. Since then, video remixes and image macros of the damaged bandicoot peaked in interest, especially in July and August. For a while there, it seemed like it would double as the rallying cry for an over-heated Internet looking for a hero. Crash was that hero, if only for a moment. "Whoa" might not have been the most popular meme of the summer, but it definitely provided the soundtrack. Sorry, Despacito.

8) Boneless Pizza
KYM Score: 694,414 | Google Search Interest: 6 / 10 | Google Search Volume: 190,000

Can I get, uhhhhhhh, boneless pizza? Sometimes meaningless words make for great memes. When the first Boneless Pizza video hit YouTube in late May, it inspired a sequel and a slew of remixes and tributes to the bizarre dinner order. With a score of 694,414, "Boneless Pizza" might be a slice of absurdity, but who actually wants bones on a pizza? So maybe they're serving up a little truth with this one. Still, Boneless Pizza would make the Jerky Boys proud. Prank phone calls, apparently, never go out of style.

7) Snapchat Hot Dog Filter
KYM Score: 701,060 | Google Search Interest: 5 / 10 | Google Search Volume: 124,000

Where were you when you first saw Snapchat's anthropomorphic dancing Hot Dog? It's a question our children will surely ask us. Snapchat probably didn't realize that a little break-dancing hot dog with a big dumb smile on its face, would take over 4th of July weekend and be the thing that got people excited about Snapchat again, but it was. That little guy was everywhere, and while it doesn't seem like Snapchat is going to capture lightning in a bottle again, it was enough to make it in the top memes of the summer. Keep on dancing, you crazy hot dog.

6) Mocking SpongeBob
KYM Score: 963,267 | Google Search Interest: 4 / 10 | Google Search Volume: 132,000

Mocking SpongeBob kicked off the summer in style. MoCkInG sPoNgEbOb KiCkEd OfF tHe SuMmEr In StYlE. Starting on May 4th, Mocking SpongeBob became a go to for anyone looking to slather a Krabby patty in sarcasm, making fun of everything from political gaffes to annoying parents and teachers. The alternating currents of capital and lower-case letters coupled with that delightful image of SpongeBob Squarepants, lips pursed and hands on hips, provided beach-goers and indoor kids alike the perfect way to express their disapproval. With a score of 963,267, it's easy to see why people kept Mocking SpongeBob going all summer long.

5) Distracted Boyfriend
KYM Score: 1,458,515 | Google Search Interest: 7 / 10 | Google Search Volume: 922,000 |

Sliding in at the last second, the Distracted Boyfriend shot out of the canon on a trajectory very similar to "The Floor Is…" An easy exploitable that's endlessly applicable and always pretty funny, gained newer meaning as people discovered more stock photos featuring these characters. There just seemed to be an unending slew of ways to approach this meme (change the faces, change the meaning, put it in other memes, put this meme in side itself), which keeps it fresh. Had this come out earlier, it might've toped the list. However, as it stands, it's a respectable number five, which leaves us whistling at "Cold One With the Boys" as "Mocking SpongBob" looks at us in anger.

4) Cold One With the Boys
KYM Score: 2,771,880 | Google Search Interest: 7 / 10 | Google Search Volume: 373,000

If there was ever a meme tailor-made for the summer, it's "Cracking Open a Cold One With the Boys." Frankly, it's such an obvious entry that it's seems unfair to claim this for the summer 2017. This meme should be for all summers. However, in June 2017, "cracking open a cold one with the boys" took over the internet, getting everyone ready for swimsuits, boogey boards, and, of course, kicking back a couple of brew dogs with your bros. This copypasta matched with pictures and videos of beers being opened, drunk and talked about puts summer in the palm of your hands. So it should come as no surprise that "cracking open a cold with the boys" is, by far, one of the most searched for memes on Google as well as Know Your Meme, indicating that the "boys" can be anyone, as long as you like a cold beverage and good times with friends. After all isn't that what summer is all about.

3) He Protec
KYM Score: 3,489,948 | Google Search Interest: 3 / 10 | Google Search Volume: 425,000

He protec, he attack but most important he bac. If there were any surprises about the most popular memes of summer 2017, it was the return of "He protec, but he also attac," which got an encore this summer by way for a rhyming third verse. The meme managed to stick around for the summer, becoming our most searched for entry. Much like roses are red, the rhyming couplets attract a slew or people to this meme. Apparently, lots of people wanted to know what "he" does--aside from protec-ing and attac-ing, of course.

2) Covfefe
KYM Score: 24,079,035 | Google Search Interest: 1/ 10 | Google Search Volume: 4,720,000

Covfefe. What does it mean? Why did it happen? Why was the world so raptured by the mystery of President Donald Trump's typo that he inexplicably left on his Twitter for more than six hours? Whatever the reasons, when Trump tweeted "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," he sent a wave of confusion and excitement that clogged search engines (and this website) for hours on end. We still don't know exactly what Trump meant, and it certainly didn't help when he followed the tweet with "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" However, it was still a memorable moment in a summer of near endless Trump news, especially when Sean Spicer refused to just say it was a typo.

1) The Floor Is X
KYM Score: 100,387,665 | Google Search Interest: 2/ 10 | Google Search Volume: 22,200,000

For a summer filled with popular exploitables, none could come close to the huge wave of enthusiasm as turning The floor is hot lava game into a meme. A picture of a boy jumping in the air and off walls inspired a movement of people ready to replace faces, names and scenarios in lieu of touching the ground. "The Floor Is" could be anything to all people, couple that with a slew of variants that showed the meme's subject smashing through the ground, and you've got a meme worth more than 100 million points. If the floor is unpopular memes, this one has some serious hang time.

Methodology

Looking at the top memes of the summer, we wanted to get a broad swath of how the memes we saw over the past three months circulated. So the first thing we did was take the typical lifespan of the "summer" season (Memorial Day to Labor Day, the unofficial beginning and ending of bathing suit season) and calculated some numbers based on Know Your Meme's and Google's data. We took the cumulative page views from our site (PV) and averaged that with the number of exact search results from Google (G). Then, we took a look at the Google Trends charts (GT), awarding points for each spot. The most trending meme was awarded 10 points, the second most trending 9, the third most trend 8, etc. We were left with this formula: [(PV+G)/2]GT. This formula was applied to each of the memes on this list, which determined the ranking. So before you go blaming me that your favorite Prequel Meme didn't make the cut, take it up with science, bub.