About
“I Know That Feel Bro” is a catchphrase and reaction image depicting two bros hugging and patting each other’s back, also known as bro hug. Such images are typically used to sympathize with someone else’s statement and accompanied by caption that reads “I know that feel, bro,” a poorly translated phrase meaning “I know how you feel, bro.”
Origin
“That feel” is a bad translation of the Polish “to uczócie” (“that feeling”). In Polish, this phrase apparently originated in late 2009 on the Polish imageboard Vichan, where the users posted a series of image macros using the catchphrase in style of demotviators.
According to the Russian Lurkmore wiki, a Polish site user named Wojak incoherently translated “to uczócie” into English and posted on Krautchan /int/ (international) board in early 2010, adding a beautiful depiction of his face and constantly complaining about his lack of a girlfriend.
Spread
“That feel” began as an obviously forced and posted only by Wojak and thus detested by the rest of /int/ community, but it eventually spread across other boards on Krautchan by May 2010 and was imported to 4chan, IGN board, Tumblr, BodyBuilding forums and other forums circa January 2011, evidently shown in the Google Insights graph.
Interestingly enough, there has been a recent influx of user comments saying “I know that feel bro” on YouTube videos of Tom Wait’s 1992 single That Feel.