The humor comes from the listener's mounting frustration as they fail to realize the "right" answer is simply to repeat the question itself.
The phrase has evolved from a simple classroom instructional tool into a dominant social media phenomenon, serving as the foundation for viral riddles, behavioral psychology "social experiments," and interactive digital content. The Viral Riddle Phenomenon Repeat after me
A speaker asks the listener to "repeat after me" and then lists several words (e.g., "Red, red, blue, blue"). They then ask a question like " What color is the grass? ". The humor comes from the listener's mounting frustration