# Where does the meme "In Russia, XXX You!" come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718 "2009-04-02T16:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/1 "2009-04-02T16:10:46Z")
There’s a pervasive meme on the SDMB, where if someone posts something like “I watch TV,” another poster will reply “In Russia, TV watches you!” Where did this start? (Of course, my example makes a sort of 1984 sense - maybe that’s where it started?) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/2 "2009-04-02T16:13:43Z")
Yakov Smirnof, comedian. [Yakov Smirnoff - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Smirnoff) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/3 "2009-04-02T16:14:12Z")
The cold war humor of stand-up comedian [Yakov Smirnoff](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Smirnoff#Russian_reversal_.28.E2.80.9CIn_Soviet_Russia_article_reads_you.E2.80.9C.29). ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/4 "2009-04-02T16:14:47Z")
The comedian Yakov Smirnoff popularized it as part of his stand up. He was from the Ukraine and used to do a lot of “in Soviet countries, X Xes you!” I don’t know if he invented the style, though. \*In America, you can always find a party. In Russia, The Party can always find you! \* ---
**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/5 "2009-04-02T16:16:10Z")
According to Wikipedia (I know) Smirnoff popularized it. Apparently had an earlier origin tho… From wikipedia: Russian reversal (“In Soviet Russia article reads you“) Russian reversal or “In Soviet Russia” is a type of joke originated by Arte Johnson[citation needed] on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and popularized by Smirnoff, and is an example of antimetabole. The general form of the “In Soviet Russia” joke is that the subject and objects of a statement are reversed, and “In (Soviet) Russia”, or something equivalent, is added. For example: In America, you catch a cold. In Russia, cold catches you! In America, you can always find a party. In Russia, The Party can always find you! ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/6 "2009-04-02T16:16:52Z")
In particular, it’s called a “Russian Reversal” (which is made clear in the Wikipedia link). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/7 "2009-04-02T16:17:23Z")
Deleted: Beat by everybody. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/8 "2009-04-02T16:19:26Z")
He’s also the popularizer for observations about America that end in “What a country!”, and other ironic contrasts between the US and (Soviet) Russia. For example: _We have no gay people in Russia—there are homosexuals but they are not allowed to be gay about it. The punishment is seven years locked in prison with other men and there is a three-year waiting list for that._ ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/9 "2009-04-02T16:37:35Z")
In america, five people rush to answer your trivial question. What a country! ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/10 "2009-04-02T16:42:24Z")
In former Soviet Union, question answers you! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/11 "2009-04-02T16:59:34Z")
Smirnoff was the originator of the theme. But David Letterman was the one who grabbed that theme and started taking it to absurd extremes. In the mid-Eighties, during lulls in a monologue, he’d put on a phony Russian accent, and roar, “In America, you eat pizza… in Russia, pizza eat YOUUUUUU!” Or “In America, you wash your car. In Russia, car wash YOUUUUUU!”" After a while, that kind of silliness caught on (seemingly) everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-meme-in-russia-xxx-you-come-from/491718/12 "2009-04-02T17:00:55Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > In former Soviet Union, question answers you! Well done Sir. I was just going to say: From Russia