The Narwhal Bacons at Midnight is one of Reddit's most iconic early catchphrases, originating in 2009 from a thread where a user asked for a secret way to identify other Redditors in public. The phrase was born from a nonsensical combination of three of the site's then-favorite things: narwhals, bacon, and late-night browsing. If one user asked, 'When does the narwhal bacon?', the correct response was 'The narwhal bacons at midnight.' While it eventually became seen as an embarrassing 'cringe' trope as the site's user base grew and diversified, it remains a foundational piece of internet culture, symbolizing the tight-knit, community-driven nature of the early web.