Also called O Panzer of the Lake · Tank of the Lake · Panzer of the Lake, What Is Your Wisdom?
A man stands beside a partly submerged tank. The next panel zooms in on the tank as though it is about to offer wisdom. Ask it a grand question and give it a very ordinary answer.
The tank becomes an unlikely oracle. The solemn request for wisdom sets up advice that can be practical, obvious, or much less profound than expected.
The second panel gives the tank a speaking turn. Its answer works best when it is brief enough to sound like a pronouncement.
Know Your Meme traces an online copy of the photograph to a Feldgrau collection posted on February 22, 2017. That is a repost date, not the date the photograph was taken. The photographer and original setting are not established by that record. [1]
On March 21, 2018, an imageboard post and a Tumblr post addressed the tank as a source of wisdom. Two-panel versions with answers circulated on Reddit and Twitter in July 2018. [1]
Put the question over the water in the upper panel, to the right of the man. Place the answer along the bottom of the close-up.
Keep the first caption ceremonial and the answer short. Everyday advice becomes funnier when it appears to come from an ancient authority in a lake.
Original captions to try with this template.
A grand consultation produces the most useful reminder in the game.
The oracle offers a practical way to avoid a familiar travel problem.
The tank sounds less like a prophet and more like an experienced DIY partner.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
Documents the photograph’s online circulation and the 2018 wisdom-caption format.
