# What is the origin of this phrase I keep seeing on the web? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710 "2013-03-23T03:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/1 "2013-03-23T03:51:35Z")
Come to the dark side; we have cookies. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/2 "2013-03-23T04:04:30Z")
The first half of it is easy. The “come to the dark side” bit comes from Star Wars. It’s what Darth Vader says to Luke. ETA: Technically the “come and join the evil side” type of phrase goes all the way back to prehistory. Every major religion has temptation stories trying to seduce someone to the side of evil. Star Wars really popularized the saying though, at least in its recent usage. The “we have cookies” bit that was added on is a bit harder to track down. It can be cited on bumper stickers from several years ago. Beyond that, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Frumpy\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/3 "2013-03-23T04:13:12Z")
> [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > Come to the dark side; we have cookies. No one knows for sure, but it goes back to around 1997 (possibly earlier). It’s just a silly phrase that caught on. Obviously the first part is from Star Wars. the second is just a huge juxtaposition to the first (As the dark side is, duh, dark). This is a thought added from a google search I did, and it makes sense (given my internet history, it’s very plausible: > [@](#): > > It means the haxor side of the internets and 4chan made it famous. Cookies is the cookies from browsing web sites. It became famous when the phrase was coined to bring Anonymous people to bear against Church of Scientology. Thus Come to teh Darkside we haz Cookies. Lots and lots of Cookies Nom, nom, nom. You’ll never find who actually coined it as they are and always shall be Anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/4 "2013-03-23T05:37:26Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The first half of it is easy. The “come to the dark side” bit comes from Star Wars. It’s what Darth Vader says to Luke. It went back farther than that: Even before Vader urges Luke to “come to the dark side”, Darth Sidious (Palpatine) invited the younger Anakin Skywalker to “come to the dark side” when he was recruiting him. ETA: Or something substantially similar. I’m not sure now if the exact words might have been “… join me on the dark side …” or similar. Sorry if I don’t remember exactly, after all, this was all a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![EatTheSun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@EatTheSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EatTheSun)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/5 "2013-03-23T05:42:40Z")
This phrase has been around since long before Anonymous. I recall seeing it on shirts in places like Spencers and Hot Topic early in high school, circa 1997-98. Definitely not a reference to web browser cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Frumpy\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/6 "2013-03-23T06:20:06Z")
> [@EatTheSun](#): > > This phrase has been around since long before Anonymous. I recall seeing it on shirts in places like Spencers and Hot Topic early in high school, circa 1997-98. Definitely not a reference to web browser cookies. Not anonymous the hacker group. Arrg. Read… don’t skim :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![EatTheSun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@EatTheSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EatTheSun)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/7 "2013-03-23T06:23:51Z")
I was referring to the additional text you quoted from your Google search… ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/8 "2013-03-23T06:33:59Z")
We have a poster who uses this as her screenname. Perhaps she would know. ---
**Author:** ![Frumpy\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/9 "2013-03-23T06:52:35Z")
> [@EatTheSun](#): > > I was referring to the additional text you quoted from your Google search… Yes. and that extra bit from google is not referring to hacker group anonymous, but mentions both hackers and anonymous people, though some may be both… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EatTheSun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@EatTheSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EatTheSun)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/10 "2013-03-23T07:08:21Z")
I guess the capitalization of Anonymous is what I was looking at. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/11 "2013-03-23T08:35:38Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > It went back farther than that: Even before Vader urges Luke to “come to the dark side”, Darth Sidious (Palpatine) invited the younger Anakin Skywalker to “come to the dark side” when he was recruiting him. 😕 _before?_ :eek: (young whippersnappers who weren’t around in 1977, grumble grumble) ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/12 "2013-03-23T09:48:45Z")
Awww, I thought going to the dark side meant you’d get your just(ifiably good) desserts. I keep looking for that line to cross just to see. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/13 "2013-03-23T09:56:55Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > It went back farther than that: Even before Vader urges Luke to “come to the dark side”… You realize, I would hope, that this involving Luke – from the first film, “Star Wars” – was written maybe 30 years or so before the following: > [@](#): > > …Darth Sidious (Palpatine) invited the younger Anakin Skywalker to “come to the dark side” when he was recruiting him. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/14 "2013-03-23T15:28:56Z")
> [@Frumpy\_Jones](#): > > Yes. and that extra bit from google is not referring to hacker group anonymous, but mentions both hackers and anonymous people, though some may be both… 🙂 That bit from Google **is** talking about the group Anonymous. What makes you think it isn’t? :dubious: Anonymous had a whole thing against the Church of Scientology. Hence why your quoted text \*capitalized \*the word Anonymous and said > [@](#): > > It became famous when the phrase was coined to bring Anonymous people to bear against Church of Scientology. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/15 "2013-03-23T17:27:27Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > That bit from Google **is** talking about the group Anonymous. What makes you think it isn’t? :dubious: Anonymous had a whole thing against the Church of Scientology. Hence why your quoted text \*capitalized \*the word Anonymous and said The quote comes from an [anonymous blog comment](http://davidmperez.wordpress.com/2007/09/04/where-come-to-the-dark-side-we-have-cookies-comes-from/#comment-46) and could only sound plausible to someone who has never seen folk etymology and who thinks that browser cookies have something to do with hacking. Presumably, the leet d00ds at Anonymous and 4chan would be a little more sophisticated than that. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/16 "2013-03-23T18:27:00Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > The quote comes from an [anonymous blog comment](http://davidmperez.wordpress.com/2007/09/04/where-come-to-the-dark-side-we-have-cookies-comes-from/#comment-46) and could only sound plausible to someone who has never seen folk etymology and who thinks that browser cookies have something to do with hacking. Presumably, the leet d00ds at Anonymous and 4chan would be a little more sophisticated than that. Leet dudes at Anonymous and 4chan? Aren’t they just basically script kiddies? That’s the impression I had… But maybe that’s what they _want_ me to think… Has Anonymous actually done serious hacking? I thought it was DoS attacks for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![EatTheSun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@EatTheSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EatTheSun)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/17 "2013-03-23T18:37:46Z")
It is mostly DDoS attacks and things of that nature, though they do (or did) have some reasonably competent individuals organizing things. They’re more famous for their trolling and activist activities than their technical prowess. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/18 "2013-03-23T19:22:57Z")
I have a t-shirt with that text on it - bought it maybe 8 years ago. The t-shirt does not reference or cite its sources, unfortunately. It has the image of Darth Vader, and the text ‘Come to the dark side, we have cookies’. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/19 "2013-03-24T00:23:57Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > You realize, I would hope, that this involving Luke – from the first film, “Star Wars” – was written maybe 30 years or so before the following: Yes of course. I was talking “in-story”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710/20 "2013-03-24T01:03:53Z")
It came from the name of someone here at the SDMB. Joined in 2003. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-this-phrase-i-keep-seeing-on-the-web/653710.md?page=2)