# Where did the "In Soviet Russia" meme come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043 "2002-12-02T21:44:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/1 "2002-12-02T21:44:29Z")
You know like: A: I feel like eating a big bowl of soup B: In Soviet Russa, the big bowl of soup eats YOU! I’m pretty sure the origins were in Yakov Smirnoff’s (or whatever his name was) stand-up routine. But why has this suddenly become a meme right now? Are we in the middle of a Yakov Smirnoff revival? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/2 "2002-12-02T21:45:46Z")
Blame [www.fark.com](http://www.fark.com) ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/3 "2002-12-02T22:42:22Z")
Did they start the meme or just, like many message boards, help spread it? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/4 "2002-12-03T00:03:06Z")
Well, they certainly didn’t _start_ it. Yakov Smirnoff is the perp, there. I think that [Fark.com](http://Fark.com) is largely responsible for it’s current vogue, though. Heck, even if people don’t participate in the comments threads, but merely use it as a news aggregate site, there’s no escaping Fark cliches. I don’t know if [The Dirk Engine at interconnected.org](http://interconnected.org/) is a solid cite, (and I see it’s actually down at the moment), but according to the [Google cache](http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:boNXAWZmiuIC:interconnected.org/dirk/%3Fobject1%3Dfark%26state%3D1), “Yakov Smirnov” is only connected to two things, and one of them is Fark: > [@](#): > > In Soviet Russia, Fark Cliche’s YOU! This, along with the tendency of so many people who use this annoying cliche to use _other_, less-annoying Fark cliches, would lead me to believe that Fark has done more to spread the “In Soviet Russia” meme than anyone else-- including Yakov Smirnov. Who remembers that guy, anyway? Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/5 "2002-12-03T00:06:13Z")
I can’t even remember how to spell his name, most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/6 "2002-12-03T00:22:49Z")
Besides, that was only ONE of his jokes. His true tag line was about America – “What a country!” ---
**Author:** ![Pantone\_Swatchbook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@Pantone\_Swatchbook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantone_Swatchbook)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/7 "2002-12-03T00:55:12Z")
Like the “All Your Base” fiasco, the new sport of “photoshopping” (including the twin towers guy), and the “God Kills a Kitten everytime you masturbate” image, this unfunny Yakov phrase originated in the [www.somethingawful.com](http://www.somethingawful.com) forums. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/8 "2002-12-03T02:46:50Z")
This was discussed on this board within the past week. [In the Soviet Union…Cliche question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=146519) ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/9 "2002-12-03T06:43:16Z")
All of what is said is true, but I think the phrase made a comeback because they recently had Yakov (or at least someone impersonating him) on The Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/10 "2002-12-03T15:08:56Z")
Sounds good. Thanks for the replies everyone. And I did do a search, I don’t know why I didn’t see the previous discussion… oh wait I know - I searched for “Soviet Russia” not “Soviet Union”. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-in-soviet-russia-meme-come-from/140043/11 "2002-12-03T17:06:27Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Avumede \* > \*\* > A: I feel like eating a big bowl of soup > B: In Soviet Russa, the big bowl of soup eats YOU!_\* God, that’s stupid, but it’s so damn funny. I don’t know why. I’m going to be laughing about that all day.