An example of a Doge meme
The original photo of Kabosu that led to the meme.

Doge (usually /doʊdʒ/ DOHJ, /doʊɡ/ DOHG or /doʊʒ/ DOHZH)[1] is an Internet meme that became popular in 2013. The meme consists of a picture of a Shiba Inu dog, accompanied by multicolored text in Comic Sans font in the foreground. The text, representing a kind of internal monologue, is deliberately written in a form of broken English. The meme most frequently uses an image of a Shiba Inu named Kabosu, though versions with other Shiba Inus are also popular.[2]

The meme is based on a 2010 photograph of Kabosu which became popular in late 2013, being named as Know Your Meme's "top meme" of that year. The Shiba Inu had a notable presence in popular culture in late 2013, including a cryptocurrency based on Doge, the Dogecoin, launching in December of that year. Several online polls and media outlets recognized Doge as one of the best Internet memes of the 2010s.

Structure

Doge uses two-word phrases in which the first word is almost always one of five modifiers ("so", "such", "many", "much", and "very"), and the departure from correct English is to use the modifier with a word that it cannot properly modify.[3] For example, "Much respect. So noble." uses the Doge modifiers but is not "proper" Doge because the modifiers are used in a formally correct fashion; the Doge version would be "Much noble, so respect."[3] In addition to these phrases, a Doge utterance often ends with a single word, most often "wow" but with "amaze" and "excite" also being used.[3]

Since the inception of the meme, several variations and spin-offs have been created, including "liquified Doge",[4][5] a variation wherein the dog's shape is morphed into other animals, and "ironic Doge",[4] a version wherein the Doge character is put into ironic and uncharacteristic situations. The ironic Doge memes have spawned several other related characters, often dogs themselves, one of which is Cheems, another Shiba Inu who is typically characterized by a speech impediment that adds the letter "M" throughout its speech.[6]

Walter, a Bull Terrier character who is typically portrayed as liking "moster trucks" [sic] and firetrucks, is another commonly recurring ironic Doge character. These memes are mostly present on subreddits like r/dogelore.[7] One meme which became popular in 2020 was "Swole Doge vs. Cheems", in which a muscular Doge and a baby Cheems are depicted as something considered better in the past, and its modern version, respectively.[8][9]

Origin and pronunciation

Kabosu
Kabosu and Atsuko Sato in 2023
Other name(s)Kabo-chan (かぼちゃん)
SpeciesDog
BreedShiba Inu
SexFemale
Born (2005-11-02) November 2, 2005
Nation fromJapan
Notable roleInternet celebrity
Years active2010–present
instagram.com/kabosumama, kabochan.blog.jp, kabosu112.exblog.jp (in Japanese)

Kabosu (Japanese: かぼす, born c. November 2, 2005[10]), the female Shiba Inu featured in the original meme, is a pedigree dog who was sent to an animal shelter when her puppy mill shut down. She was adopted in 2008 by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato, and named after the citrus fruit kabosu because Sato thought she had a round face like the fruit.[2] Another Shiba Inu featured in the meme is Suki, a female belonging to photographer Jonathan Fleming from San Francisco. His wife had accidentally put a scarf in the wash, making it shrink. He took a photograph of Suki wearing the scarf outside on a cold night in February 2010.[2]

Kabosu was first pictured in a 2010 blog post by Sato; afterward, variations of the pictures using overlaid Comic Sans text were posted from a Tumblr blog, Shiba Confessions.[2] However, the use of the intentionally misspelled "Doge" dates back to June 2005, when it was mentioned in an episode of Homestar Runner's puppet series.[1] The meme began to grow in popularity after it was used on Reddit in October 2010 in a post titled "LMBO LOOK @ THIS FUKKEN DOGE."[4][2]

Some of the other characters used in the meme are based on photographs of real dogs. Cheems is based on an image of a dog named Balltze, from Hong Kong; he was adopted at the age of one and was nine years old in 2020.[6] He had leukemia and was undergoing thoracentesis (the draining of fluid from his chest) when he died on 18 August 2023, aged 12.[11] Walter is based on the bull terrier Nelson, who originally became popular in 2018 after his owner, Victoria Leigh, posted a picture of Nelson to Twitter, with the caption "When u open the front-facing camera on accident." In 2020, rumors of Nelson's death began to circulate the internet, although they turned out to be false.[7][12] It was reported in late December 2022 that 17-year-old Kabosu was seriously ill with leukemia, though Sato said that her health had improved soon after the report.[13][14]

The most common pronunciations of "Doge" are /ˈdoʊdʒ/ DOHJ and /ˈdoʊɡ/ DOHG. In non-English speaking countries, "Doge" is occasionally pronounced /ˈdɒdʒ/ "dodge". Those unfamiliar or unacquainted with the meme also use the pronunciations /ˈdɒɡi/ "doggie", /ˈdɒɡeɪ/ DOG-ay, /ˈdoʊɡeɪ/ DOH-gay, or simply like the word "dog" itself, i.e. /ˈdɒɡ/ DOG or /ˈdɔːɡ/ DAWG.[1]

History and spread

Initial 2013 spread

Online searches for the meme began to increase in July 2013.[2] In August 2013, images of the meme were spammed on Reddit's r/MURICA subreddit by 4chan's random imageboard, /b/.[15] In late December 2013, members of the U.S. Congress produced material in the meme's style. The Huffington Post commented that Doge was "killed" because of the Congress members' usage of the meme.[16][17] In December 2013, the Dogecoin was introduced as a new cryptocurrency, making it the first cryptocurrency to be based on an Internet meme;[18][19][20] the viral phenomenon, along with usage of the Comic Sans MS typeface, gave it "the Internet density of a large star" according to Medium writer Quinn Norton.[21]

Continued popularity

By early 2014, Doge's popularity was sustained by Internet communities on social media, accompanied by the rapid growth and acceptance of Dogecoin. In April 2014, Doge experienced a second major media resurgence due to revelations of the Dogecoin community's intent to sponsor Josh Wise in NASCAR and place a picture of the Shiba Inu on his vehicle.[22][23] The car features in downloadable content for the video game NASCAR '14.[24] Media outlets have embraced the meme while reporting on the cryptocurrency and the car, with titles featuring phrases such as "so wow" and "very vroom".[25][26] A report on The Daily Dot in December 2016 found that Doge's popularity peaked in 2014 and then fell due to "overexposure and co-option by advertisers and mainstream 'normies'", but remained stable since then and returned to Tumblr's top 10 shared memes of the year in 2016.[27] For April Fools' Day in 2017, China Central Television published a hoax story of the death of Kabosu.[28][29] In 2021, a non-fungible token depicting the meme was acquired by PleasrDAO for $4 million.[30] In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an online phenomenon and group dedicated to countering Russian propaganda and Russian disinformation called NAFO (or the North Atlantic Fella Organization), where participants, who refer themselves as "Fellas", use Doge as their avatar. In addition to posting pro-Ukraine memes, or ones mocking Russian war effort and strategy and "shitposting", the group also raises funds for the Ukrainian military and other pro-Ukrainian causes.[31][32][33][34]

Cultural depictions

An example of a Doge meme related to Wikipedia

In advertising

In mid-2014, the advertisement agency DDB Stockholm had Doge featured prominently in an advertising campaign for the public transport company SL in Stockholm, Sweden. The advertisement concerned the company's special summer tickets, and featured Doge holding a public transport ticket in his mouth, with phrases such as "many summer", "such cheap" and "very buy".[35]

Online

Google created a Doge Easter egg: when doge meme was entered into the YouTube search bar, all the site's text would be displayed in colorful Comic Sans, similar to the kind used by the meme.[36] In January 2014, Sydney-based web developers Katia Eirin and Bennett Wong created Doge Weather, a weather website and mobile app incorporating the meme. Doge Weather reports the temperature and weather conditions based on the user's geographic location.[37][38] In April 2014, Doge Weather became available as a mobile app for iOS 7.[37] Mozilla's Servo project incorporated the meme into the project logo from May 2016 to February 2020.[39][40]

Between April 3 and 7, 2023,[41] Elon Musk has decided and replaced Twitter's bird logo with an image of Doge for website users. Some speculated that it may have been a late-posted April Fools' Day joke,[42][43] However, Thomas Barabbi of New York Post said that the dogecoin logo appeared just days after Musk’s lawyers asked a judge to dismiss a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit, accusing the billionaire on boosting the digital currency’s value.[44]

In entertainment

In the video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2014 song "Word Crimes", a song about bad grammar, a Doge tweet is used to illustrate the types of bad grammar referenced in that part of the song.[45] In the 2015 video game The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, a reference to the meme can be found in the North American version only. When examining one of the ancient bookshelves, the text reads "Still, coming here has at least afforded me the rare chance to explore these ancient ruins. So ancient. Such ruin." The reference was met with mixed views from fans of the series.[46][47] In the 2015 online game Agar.io, Doge appears as a playable skin in the game by typing in the name "Doge".[48] Just Cause 3 also included a special mode that popped up text in the style of the meme in response to certain player actions.[49][50] In 2017, the video game Smite added a Doge skin for the goddess Skadi.[51]

Reception and legacy

"Doge" was one of several additions to Dictionary.com in November 2015.[52] The website defines it as not just the image macro and its variants, but also the form of "language" that it uses.[53] Several media publications included Doge on a list of memes that helped define Internet culture in the 2010s, and wrote on the meme's influence of further online developments, such as DoggoLingo and WeRateDogs.[54][55] io9 compared the internal dialog of the Shiba Inu dogs to lolspeak.[56] Evan McMurry of ABC News and Stacey Ritzen of The Daily Dot both ranked Doge as the number-one meme of the 2010s.[57][4] In December 2019, Doge was voted as the best Internet meme of the 2010s on a poll held by The Tab, gaining 737 votes, or 22 percent of total votes cast.[58] Vox's Aja Romano included Doge on their 11 memes "that captured the decade," writing that it took "cat memes to new, absurdist heights, an early hallmark of neo-Dadaist millennial humor."[55] It was ranked as 12th on MTV's list of "50 Things Pop Culture Had Us Giving Thanks For" in 2013.[59] Angela Watercutter of Wired described it as one of the best meme of 2013, and was named the "top meme" of 2013 by Know Your Meme.[60] Mashable said it is one of the best "internet moments turning 10 in 2023".[61]

The Japanese perception is remarkably different; Kabosu and Sato are known as pet and owner rather than a meme, and her blog was the fourth-most popular pet-related blog in the country as of December 2013. Reacting to the meme, she explained, "To be honest, some pictures are strange for me, but it's still funny! I'm very impressed with their skills and taste. Around me, nobody knows about the Doge meme. Maybe I don't understand memes very well, because I'm living such an analog life." Sato has also expressed that she had learned that "the risk of the internet is that anyone in the world can see my life on my blog". Fleming stated that in his experience, the Shiba Inu breed has become more recognized due to the meme.[2]

In 2023, a monument to Kabosu was installed in Sakura, Chiba.[62]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wickman, Forrest (November 15, 2013). "How Do You Pronounce "Doge"?". Slate. Archived from the original on November 22, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chayka, Kyle (December 31, 2013). "Wow this is doge". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 McCulloch, Gretchen (February 6, 2014). "A Linguist Explains the Grammar of Doge. Wow". The Toast. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ritzen, Stacey (December 13, 2019). "The 50 memes that defined the decade". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  5. ↑ Hathaway, Jay (April 11, 2018). "Something very weird is happening to Doge memes in 2018". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Banim, Julia (July 4, 2020). "Meet Balltze The Original Cheems Dog And Star Of Your Favourite Memes". Unilad. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Raphael, Shannon (June 15, 2020). "Is Front Camera Meme Star Walter the Dog Actually Dead?". Distractify. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Swole Doge vs. Cheems: el meme de los perros que se está viralizando en redes" [Swole Doge vs. Cheems: the dog meme that is going viral on the web]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). May 27, 2020. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ "El exitoso meme viral del perro grande contra el pequeño que compara la vida antes y ahora" [The successful meme of the big dog against the little one which compares life before and now]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). June 1, 2020. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "海外で大人気になった柴犬「かぼすちゃん」の魅力とは" [The allure of Kabosu, the shiba inu who became super popular overseas, explained]. Dōbutsu Dōmei (in Japanese). March 8, 2020. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. 誕生日　2005年11月2日（推定） [Birthday: November 2, 2005 (inferred)]
  11. ↑ "Viral meme dog Cheems Balltez [sic] passes away at the age of 12". The Times of India. August 20, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  12. ↑ Mustafa, Filiz (June 15, 2020). "Did Walter the dog die? Social media hoax explained following dog's rumoured death". HITC. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  13. ↑ Mullholland, Tara (December 28, 2022). "Shiba inu who inspired 'doge' meme is seriously ill with leukemia". CNN. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Shiba Inu behind 'Doge' meme makes surprising recovery, owner announces". Yahoo News. December 30, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  15. ↑ Alfonso III, Fernando (August 26, 2013). "4chan spammed Reddit with an army of Shiba Inus". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  16. ↑ Logiurato, Brett (December 23, 2013). "Congress Has Finally Discovered 'Doge,' And It's Going About As Badly As You Would Expect". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  17. ↑ Horowitz, Alana (December 23, 2013). "GOPers Ruin Beloved Internet Meme". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  18. ↑ Klee, Miles (December 10, 2013). "With its own cryptocurrency, Doge has officially conquered 2013". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  19. ↑ Couts, Andrew (December 12, 2013). "Wow. Dogecoin is the most Internet thing to happen, ever". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  20. ↑ Hillen, Brittany (December 11, 2013). "Dogecoin digital currency takes on Bitcoin with a bit of meme flair". SlashGear. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  21. ↑ Norton, Quinn (December 23, 2013). "The Values of Money". Medium. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  22. ↑ Ballaban, Michael (April 8, 2014). "Such NASCAR, Much Motorsports: What It Looks Like When Doge Goes Racing". Jalopnik. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  23. ↑ Kooser, Amanda (April 29, 2014). "Dogecoin Nascar paint scheme unveiled. Wow. Such doge". CNET. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  24. ↑ Good, Owen S. (May 18, 2014). "Dogecoin, NASCAR's strangest hood sponsor, will appear in its official video game". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  25. ↑ Spencer, Malia (May 6, 2014). "When Dogecoin met NASCAR. So wow". Portland Business Journal. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  26. ↑ Estrada, Chris (May 4, 2014). "Very vroom: Josh Wise finishes 20th at 'Dega in DogeCoin car". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  27. ↑ Hathaway, Jay (December 8, 2016). "The very longevity of Doge, the Shiba Inu meme that is still such popular". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  28. ↑ Covucci, David (April 3, 2017). "Don't worry: Despite reports, Doge is not dead". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  29. ↑ Feinn, Lily (April 4, 2017). "Is Doge Dead? The Famous Meme Dog Was The Subject Of An April Fool's Hoax". Bustle. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  30. ↑ "Iconic 'Doge' meme NFT breaks record, selling for $4 million". NBC News. June 11, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  31. ↑ Pearson, Pez (August 15, 2022). "The doges of war: how a Twitter meme is helping fight the Russian war in Ukraine". Yorkshire Bylines. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  32. ↑ Gault, Matthew (July 12, 2022). "Shitposting Shiba Inu Accounts Chased a Russian Diplomat Offline". Vice. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  33. ↑ Zappone, Chris (August 29, 2022). "NAFO, the furry fellas taking a bite out of Russia's info war machine". The Age. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  34. ↑ Cole, Brendan (August 19, 2022). "'What Air Defense Doing': Adam Kinzinger Joins Meme Mockery of Russia". Newsweek. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  35. ↑ Andrén, Simon (April 29, 2014). "Många frågor kring SL-kampanj" [Many questions about SL campaign]. Dagens Media (in Swedish). Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Easter Egg: YouTube in Comic Sans (Doge Meme)". WebSonic.nl. November 24, 2013. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  37. 1 2 Mediati, Nick (April 2, 2014). "Can Doge Weather Become Your Main iOS Weather App?". Macgasm.net. Macgasm. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  38. ↑ Wickman, Forrest (February 12, 2014). "Finally, You Can Get Your Weather From Doge. Wow". Slate. The Slate Group. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  39. ↑ "History for resources/servo.png". GitHub. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  40. ↑ "History for resources/servo.svg". GitHub. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  41. ↑ Leffer, Lauren (April 7, 2023). "Doge's Twitter Reign Ends, Triggering Memecoin Slump". Gizmodo. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  42. ↑ Taylor, Josh; Hern, Alex (April 4, 2023). "Twitter makes unexplained logo change to Dogecoin cryptocurrency image". The Guardian. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  43. ↑ Clark, Mitchell (April 3, 2023). "Today in Twitter: where are the retweet labels, and why did Doge replace the bird?". The Verge. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  44. ↑ "Dogecoin dog replaces Twitter logo on homepage, meme token's price soars 30%". nypost.com. April 3, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  45. ↑ Kastrenakes, Jacob (July 15, 2014). "Weird Al's 'Blurred Lines' parody skewers Reddit and doge for grammar crimes". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  46. ↑ Mandelin, Clyde (October 27, 2015). "The Latest Zelda Game is Such Doge". Legends of Localization. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  47. ↑ Phillips, Tom (October 28, 2015). "Zelda fans have a bone to pick with Nintendo over doge meme". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  48. ↑ "Hands-on with Agar.io: What the heck is it? Why is it so popular?". August 5, 2015.
  49. ↑ "Just Cause 3 Easter Egg – Doge Mode". Official IGN account on YouTube. December 13, 2015. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  50. ↑ Prell, Sam (December 3, 2015). "Wow, such explosion, many meme: how to unlock Doge Mode in Just Cause 3". Official PlayStation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  51. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (January 27, 2017). "Wow! Such meme! Very Smite!". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  52. ↑ "'Fleek,' 'facepalm' among words added to Dictionary.com". AOL. November 10, 2015. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  53. ↑ "Doge". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  54. ↑ Amatulli, Jenna (December 17, 2019). "A Guide To The Memes That Defined A Decade (And Where They Are Now)". HuffPost. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  55. 1 2 Romano, Aja (December 18, 2019l). "11 memes that captured the decade". Vox. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  56. ↑ Newitz, Annalee (December 11, 2013). "We who spoke LOLcat now speak Doge". Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  57. ↑ McMurry, Evan (December 7, 2019). "The 10 memest memes of this decade, the decade of the meme". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  58. ↑ Soen, Hayley (December 4, 2019). "The votes are in: This is officially the best meme of the entire decade". The Tab. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  59. ↑ "From One Direction's Abs To Miley's Joint: 50 Things Pop Culture Had Us Giving Thanks For This Year". MTV. November 27, 2013. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  60. ↑ Watercutter, Angela (December 13, 2013). "The 10 Best Memes of 2013". Wired. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  61. ↑ "From Doge to Drake, Here Are 10 Internet Moments Turning 10 in 2023". Mashable SEA. January 2, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  62. ↑ "Japan creates public monument to original doge meme dog in her home prefecture". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
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